A mother and her two children were found brutally murdered in Columbus, Georgia. The coroner of Muscogee County impanelled jurors and made inquest into the deaths. The inquest was open to the public, and the testimony of all witnesses was recorded and transcribed at public expense. The verdict returned by the coroner's jury was: "Ann J., Erika and Ryan Curry were murdered with a bush ax, however, with the evidence presented in this case, we are unable to determine the principals or accessories to the murders."

R. W. Page Corporation, a publisher of newspapers, requested a copy of the transcript, offering to pay the reasonable cost of copying. The coroner refused the request, and the publisher brought an action seeking to compel the release of the transcript. The trial court declined to order the transcript's release, and the publisher appealed.

2. Our ruling does not encompass photographs of the victims, or other documentary evidence. No one has been arrested or indicted for the murders. Were the photographs of the victims published before a trial of an accused, such might raise questions concerning inflammatory pre-trial publicity. That prospect is best resolved by withholding that documentary evidence from publication.