Eagan Avenatti, LLP (“EA”) has been aggressively pursuing this matter on a near daily basis since the filing of the class action on September 10, 2009. We have deposed thirty-two (32) current and former employees of Eden Memorial Park Cemetery/Service Corporation International ("SCI"), and four (4) individuals with the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. And we anticipate taking an additional fifteen (15) depositions before the end September. A deposition is an opportunity for attorneys, on behalf of their clients, to question a witness under oath similar to the questioning that occurs at a trial.
The depositions completed thus far in this case have unfortunately confirmed our worst fears. The evidence indicates there has been a pervasive practice of grave disturbances and desecrations at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery spanning an approximate 30 year time period. A number of groundskeepers and supervisors have admitted under oath they routinely damaged and broke burial vaults containing human remains, sometimes as much as two to three times per week. These groundskeepers and supervisors have further admitted that many times this would cause human remains, including bones, to spill out of the broken burial vaults. According to the sworn testimony, the groundskeepers were often instructed by the cemetery to discard any remaining bones, pieces of burial shrouds or broken casket remnants in the cemetery dump located at the northern most section of the cemetery.
Because the practice was pervasive, the cemetery did not keep records of which burial vaults were broken. Moreover, because the vaults are buried under ground, it is impossible to visually identify, from above the ground, which graves were disturbed. There are, however, non-invasive procedures available to allow family members to identify broken vaults without disturbing the decedent’s grave and we are consulting with experts about the possible use of these procedures. On November 19, 2011, after reviewing evidence presented by Plaintiffs, the Court issued a sanctions order against Eden for the destruction of physical evidence after the filing of the lawsuit.
The Court has scheduled a trial of this matter for December 2011.
Information Current as of August 2011.