The father of a Gary boy found dead in a shallow grave lost a court fight in his son’s murder investigation.
A judge denied the request of Riley Choate’s lawyer, who wanted a second autopsy of Christian Choate’s remains, the Times of Northwest Indiana reports.
The older Choate and his ex-wife both face murder charges in Christian’s death.
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DNA evidence confirmed the remains belonged to the boy.
Choate’s lawyer, Randy Godshalk, requested an independent autopsy to build up his defense, the paper reports.
However, the judge ruled it unnecessary at this point since Godshalk hadn’t received a copy of the coroner’s report yet.
Godshalk could make the request again. The judge ordered the report available by the end of the week.
