District of Columbia v. Smith

PRYOR, Associate Judge:

Appellant, the District of Columbia, appeals from an adverse judgment entered after a jury verdict in favor of appellees Hattie Lee Smith, Pearlie Smith and Clau-die Burns, who brought an action seeking damages for mental anguish resulting from the District’s alleged negligent interference with their right to preserve, bury or otherwise dispose of the body of their brother, Casper Yeagin, at the time of his death. Appellant asserts that appellees’ failure to prove physical injury, in the circumstances of this case, precludes any recovery for damages for mental anguish.…