Godless and Barbaric

Anything to make money in Russia.

The artist was given access to the morgue to take photographs of eight bodies with various objects including sheet music, a key and an apple. The coronor was accused of abuse of a corpse for letting the artist take the pictures, and he was convicted. However, another court ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict him.

This isn't the first time the morgue has allowed desecration of bodies. They allowed a cornea removal without family approval and body organ removal without notice to families.

Barbaric.

Only it isn't Russia. It's Hamilton County, Ohio. The county seat is -- Cincinnati.

Hamilton County settled a lawsuit Tuesday filed by the families of people whose bodies were photographed by an artist at the morgue. The county agreed to pay $8 million to 532 families in the class-action suit filed six years ago, but officials said the interest-free payments would be made over two years.

Every copy of the offending photographs will be transferred to the families’ attorneys and destroyed, officials said.

As for the photographer.

Photographer Thomas Condon was convicted in October 2001 on eight counts of gross abuse of a corpse for taking pictures of bodies with various objects including sheet music, a key and an apple.

Former deputy coroner Jonathan Tobias, who was accused of letting Condon take the photographs, was also found guilty of gross abuse of a corpse. That conviction was thrown out when 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to convict him.

Under the agreement, Hamilton County Coroner O’Dell Owens, first elected to office in 2004, will reopen a morgue viewing room, offer grief counseling and establish a memorial at the morgue in memory of the deceased family members.

“Dr. Owens has acted aggressively to correct the mistakes of previous coroners,” said attorney Stan Chesley, who filed the class action suit. “This settlement provides fair compensation to all of the families affected.”

The morgue settlement will go before federal Judge Arthur Spiegel in about a month for a fairness hearing, which is the final step before payment and closure.

This settlement marks the third time since 2001 that the county have paid damages for misdeeds in the coroner’s office that predate the previous administration. The first two cases cost county taxpayers $5.25 million, once for a cornea removal without family approval, and a $6 million settlement for body organ removal without notice to families.

Source: WLWT.com Link