On 7 April 1997, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted defendants' summary judgment motion and plaintiffs appeal. By making a motion for summary judgment, a defendant may force a plaintiff to produce a forecast of evidence demonstrating that the plaintiff will be able to make out at least a prima facie case at trial. 113 N.C. App. Plaintiffs' complaint seeks relief for infliction of emotional distress due to mutilation of a dead body because the autopsy performed on their father went beyond the scope authorized by the family.
Plaintiffs also seek punitive damages.
Furthermore, the survivor has the legal right to bury the body as it was when life became extinct. Kyles v. R. R., supra . If defendant's conduct was wilful or wanton, actually malicious, or grossly negligent, punitive damages may also be recovered. Kyles v. R. R., supra . Defendants argue that plaintiffs authorized an unlimited autopsy of their father by signing a blank autopsy form and therefore have no cause of action.