Leib v. Paparo

In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, inter alia, to review respondent’s determination that petitioner’s son committed suicide, petitioner appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Gurahian, J.), entered March 27, 1981, which dismissed the petition. Judgment affirmed, without costs or disbursements. A medical examiner’s determination that a decedent committed suicide is a quasi-judicial determination (see Gould v State of New York, 181 Misc 884 ; cf. County Law, § 674, subd 4) and, hence, is reviewable in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78. In this case, the presumption that a decedent did not commit suicide (see Garrow v State of New York, 268 App Div 534 , affd 294 NY 741 ) was overcome by the evidence in the record. Therefore, the determination of the medical examiner must be confirmed (see Matter of Mitchell v Helpern, 17 AD2d 922 , affd 14 NY2d 817 ). Mollen, P. J., Hopkins, Titone and Weinstein, JJ., concur.