Summary
The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal denied a petition for writ of certiorari challenging an order permitting exhumation of the decedent's body for an autopsy in a medical negligence action. The court held that the trial court acted within its discretion because the autopsy could resolve the cause of death. A dissent argued that exhumation should require a strong showing of necessity and a reasonable likelihood that it would produce admissible evidence.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court's order authorizing exhumation of the decedent's body should be quashed through a writ of certiorari.
- Whether the trial court acted within its discretion in ordering exhumation when the autopsy might clarify the cause of death in the pending negligence action.
Holdings
- Certiorari relief was denied because petitioner did not satisfy the requirements for issuance of the writ.
- A trial court may exercise discretion to order disinterment when the requested examination may produce evidence material to the litigation; the record here supported leaving the order undisturbed.
Key quotations
“The exhumation or the autopsy of a corpse, when useful to ascertain facts in litigation, should of course be performed. Reverence for the memory of those who have departed does not require us to abdicate the high duty of doing justice to the living...” (at 423)
Factual background
Respondent diagnosed Angelo Esgro with angina, congestive heart failure, and chronic obstructive lung disease, prescribed medication, and sent him home. Two or three days later, Esgro collapsed and died after arriving at the hospital, and respondent listed cardiac arrest as the cause of death on the death certificate. Approximately seven months later, the estate sued respondent for negligence, after which respondent sought exhumation and an autopsy; a medical examiner testified there was a good possibility the autopsy would be revealing.
Procedural history
After petitioner filed a negligence action concerning the decedent's death, respondent physician moved approximately eight months later to exhume the body for an autopsy. The trial court granted the motion, and petitioner obtained a stay while seeking certiorari review. The district court denied the petition and left the exhumation order in place; rehearing and certification were denied on August 27, 1986.