Justices weigh lawsuit over man’s missing organs

Misplaced. Thrown away. Stolen. Sold.

Nobody really knows what happened to Richard Boorman's missing organs, and the Nevada Supreme Court was drawn into the intrigue Tuesday.

What is clear is that Boorman's body was autopsied by the Clark County coroner's office and delivered to a local funeral home.

At Bishop Gorman High School, the high court heard the strange case brought by members of Boorman's family against Nevada Funeral Services and Clark County.

A federal judge had previously determined there were no state laws that address the allegations the family raised in a lawsuit. In essence, the federal court asked the Supreme Court not only to set a precedent, but to make public policy.

There are two issues for the court to decide before the lawsuit can go forward, a process Chief Justice Ron Parraguirre expects will consume a good deal of time.

"We don't have a precedent on this," he said during a question-and-answer session with Bishop Gorman students watching the hearing.

The first issue: Does a coroner have a duty not to misplace organs that is equal to the same duty owed by funeral homes? Justice James Hardesty suggested a coroner's duty is "to the public, to perform autopsies."

Clark County Deputy District Attorney Laura Rehfeldt, arguing on behalf of the coroner, said the point was moot because an employee of the funeral home conceded in a deposition that the organs were in a bag with Boorman's body when the funeral home took custody.

But the high court was advised to address the issue as if the organs were misplaced by the coroner's office, which remains a defendant. Nevada Funeral Services did not participate in the hearing.

The second issue could have a larger effect on state courts, as justices must answer the question: Can a cousin or niece -- rather than a parent or sibling -- have standing in a lawsuit when a claim of emotional distress is brought.

Boorman, 29, died of a heart attack in a Mandalay Bay nightclub after flying to Las Vegas from London with three friends to attend a bachelor party.

"He had too much alcohol and too much drugs," said Jonathan Capp, the California attorney who represents the family.

Capp believes coroners have a duty to be more vigilant and ensure a body isn't mishandled because they are, in most states, part of the local police force.

Justice Michael Douglas asked Capp how courts would be able to quantify a person's emotional distress as a result of missing organs.

"They are already in distress because they lost a loved one," Douglas said. "How do we know what's what?"

The family learned the organs were missing when a cause of death was not listed on the Nevada death certificate. A coroner in England, hoping to find his own cause of death, found only a rolled up piece of paper inside Boorman's embalmed body when he opened the chest cavity. The Clark County coroner's office said the organs were placed in a bag and accompanied the body to the funeral home. Representatives of the funeral home in depositions said they had no idea where the organs were.

Hardesty noted that neighboring states that have laws regarding mishandling human remains are split on the issue of who may claim emotional distress. California allows "close relatives" to claim emotional distress, defining close as any relative who can prove there was a "physical manifestation" of their emotional distress. In one case, Capp noted, a niece was a plaintiff.

Arizona limits the ability to make the claim to parents, spouses and children.

Boorman's mother, brother, grandmother and niece are plaintiffs. In addition to their claims of emotional distress, they also accuse the coroner and Nevada Funeral Services of a "cover-up" and of selling the missing organs.

Rehfeldt said the coroner's office "categorically denies" the allegations.

The hearing marked the first time the Supreme Court has had oral arguments at a Southern Nevada high school. Bishop Gorman's mock trial team is ranked fifth in the nation and has won three of the past seven high school mock trial state championships.