Judge Says No Autopsy Needed for Late Justice Scalia

ByLUCIEN BRUGGEMAN ABCNews logo
Sunday, February 14, 2016

The body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has arrived at a Texas funeral home a day after he died while on a hunting trip.



Chris Lujan of Sunset Funeral Homes in El Paso said the body of the late justice arrived early Sunday. Scalia had been staying at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in Presidio County, Texas, during a quail hunting trip, said federal officials. He was 79.



Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara, who pronounced Scalia dead, told ABC News the death certificate will say the cause of death was natural, and that he died of a heart attack. She said no autopsy was necessary.



Guevara said she talked to Scalia's doctor in Washington, D.C., who told her he had been sick and had been at his office Wednesday and Thursday before going on the hunting trip Friday.



According to Guevara, Scalia told his group Friday at dinner he was not feeling well and went to his room early. He then missed breakfast and lunch Saturday and was found unresponsive in his bed.



Guevara said deputies called her at 1:50 p.m. CT.



Scalia, who was appointed to the high court by former President Ronald Reagan, was the longest-serving justice on the current bench of the Supreme Court, having taken his seat on Sept. 26, 1986.



Despite calls from conservatives for his seat to not be filled until a new president was elected, President Obama said Saturday he intends to nominate a replacement before his term ends.



ABC News' Jim Avila contributed to this report.



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