Emedinews:Insights on Medicolegal Issues:Exhumation of corpse – America

Medicolegal Update
(Dr Sudhir Gupta, Additional Prof, Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, AIIMS)

In America corpses are exhumed when there is a need to identify a body or to establish cause of death like in the case of suspected homicide.

• The remains of President Zachary Taylor were exhumed in 1991 to determine whether or not he had been poisoned, and the famous outlaw Jesse James’s grave was excavated to prove that it was his body in the coffin. In addition, archaeological investigations often involve exhumation.
• Under modern law, courts usually do not allow exhumation unless there are substantial and compelling reasons to do so.
• In a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Justice Cardozo stated, "The dead are to rest where they have been lain unless reason of substance is brought forward for disturbing their repose."
• Three general principles govern the law of disinterment in the United States. First, it is presumed that a "decently buried" body should remain undisturbed where it was placed unless good reason is given to do so. Second, disinterment is considered the private concern of the immediate family and the cemetery. Third, if there is disagreement among the close relatives regarding a proposal for exhumation the matter is adjudicated by a court of equity. The court considers (in order of importance) the wishes and religious beliefs of the deceased (if these can be determined), the wishes of the spouse of the deceased, the opinions of other close relatives, and the policies and regulations of the cemetery when determining if exhumation should be allowed.
• California Labor Code stipulates that if it is suspected that a person has died as a result of injuries sustained in the course of his employment, the investigating appeals board may require an autopsy and, if necessary, the exhumation of the body for the purposes of autopsy. However, in accordance with the rules of equity, the close relatives can, if they wish, prevent the state (i.e., California) from either exhuming the body or performing the autopsy.