Opinion ID: 2260822
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Inquiry related to the county coroner

Text: Despite our conclusion in the previous section, we cannot conclude that the duty of a county coroner is as expansive as the duty of a mortuary. Unlike a mortuary, which voluntarily undertakes a duty to perform funeral services on behalf of the bereaved, a county coroner is obligated by law to perform its services. See NRS 259.050(1) (requiring the coroner to make an appropriate investigation when there are reasonable ground[s] to suspect that [a] death has been occasioned by unnatural means). The county coroner does not create a special relationship nor does he or she undertake any particular duty to the bereaved to prepare the deceased's body for funeral services. [6] Rather, the county coroner's duty is to investigate the cause of death and, so performing its duty, there may be instances where a county coroner needs to examine the body or its parts. [7] Nevertheless, a county coroner is not completely absolved from any liability. A county coroner has a narrow limited duty to account for a deceased person's remains and may be held liable for emotional distress to the person with the right to dispose of the deceased's body for negligently handling a deceased person's remains. We find the Arizona Court of Appeals' decision in Morton v. Maricopa County, 177 Ariz. 147, 865 P.2d 808 (Ariz.Ct.App.1993), particularly helpful to our decision. In Morton, the court recognized that a county coroner owed a duty not to negligently prevent the proper interment or cremation of a deceased's body but that the duty was only owed to the person with the right to dispose of the deceased's body. Id. at 812. The Morton court quoted section 868 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts in recognizing that a county coroner could be held liable: One who intentionally, recklessly or negligently removes, withholds, mutilates or operates upon the body of a dead person or prevents its proper interment or cremation is subject to liability to a member of the family of the deceased who is entitled to the disposition of the body. Morton. 865 P.2d at 812 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 868 (1979)). The Morton court further acknowledged that `[t]here is no need to show physical consequences of the mental distress.' See id. at 812 n. 2 (quoting the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 868 cmt. a). We agree with Morton and the Restatement (Second) of Torts section 868 that the only person who can assert an emotional distress claim against a county coroner in this context is the person with the right to dispose of the body. While the only person who may assert this claim is the person with the right to dispose of the body, the remaining elements required to prevail on this claim are the same as those relating to an emotional distress claim against a mortuarythe person need not perceive the offending act or demonstrate any physical manifestations of emotional distress.