The coroner's reports that detail the deaths of nine patients trapped in a sweltering New Orleans hospital in the days following Hurricane Katrina should be made public, a judge ruled on Friday.

Civil Court Chief Judge Nadine Ramsey ruled in favor of the Times-Picayune, which had sued Orleans Parish Coroner Frank Minyard for the reports. Ramsey gave Minyard until Monday to make the reports public.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti conducted a criminal investigation into the deaths, leading to charges of second-degree murder against Dr. Anna Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry, who stayed to work at the flooded hospital during and after the Aug. 29, 2005 storm.

A grand jury refused to indict Pou on July 24. Landry and Budo testified before the panel under immunity.

Foti accused Pou and the nurses of killing patients by overdosing them with a sedative-painkiller mix during the days after Katrina, when Memorial Medical Center and other hospitals had no power and no way to evacuate.

"The thing that bothers me is that this material is being made public selectively," said attorney Richard Simmons, who represents Pou. "It's being made public without my client being able to defend herself."

All three women denied the accusations.

At the time of the arrests, Foti called the actions murder and accused the trio of "playing God."

After the grand jury failed to indict Pou, Foti, who was critical of the decision, began releasing investigative material. Some legal officials called the action an unusual move aimed at justifying his pursuit of charges against the trio.

Foti is up for re-election and has had to defend the arrests against political opponents, saying medical experts backed his view.

"This won't be settled until Foti is out of office," Simmons said. "It will be hanging over my client's head."

An assistant attorney general told a judge that the case was closed, but Simmons said that was little comfort.

"They also told me they would not arrest my client and allow her to turn herself in," Simmons said. "And then they arrested her. So it's hard to believe them."

A call to the attorney general's spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

Bill Bradley, who represents Minyard, said he had not talked to the coroner and probably would not know before Monday if they would appeal the decision.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)