posted May 6, 2002
Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Neil Thomas will be hearing civil actions involving the Tri-State Crematory.
At a hearing Monday involving a host of attorneys for the numerous plaintiffs and defendants, there was no objection raised to Judge Thomas staying on the case.
He told the lawyers that the funerals for his mother and grandmother were handled by one of the defendants, Wann Funeral Home. He said his father also represented Wann at one time.
But there was no objection, including from Ken Poston, the attorney for crematory operator Brent Marsh, who has raised several recusal motions in the criminal case in Walker County, Ga.
Judge Thomas, after several hours of argument, set Aug. 22 as a date to hold a hearing on whether the cases should be lumped together as a class action.
He directed that depositions be taken in the case on July 1 and 2 of five plaintiffs and five funeral homes. They are to last an hour each.
The judge said the evidence obtained in the depositions would help in the ultimate ruling on the class action question.
Judge Thomas said the litigation is so massive that he expects a special clerk will be assigned to it and a separate room will need to be found at the courthouse for the Tri-State Crematory legal papers. He said there would not be room enough in the fifth floor County Courthouse office of the Circuit Court Clerk.
Attorney David Randolph Smith of Nashville, who represents a large number of families who had bodies taken to the Noble, Ga., crematory, argued for the class action. He said it was "the only way to provide fairness for everybody."
But lawyers for the funeral homes objected to the class action as did several plaintiff attorneys.
Attorney Bill Pickering said he was "not interested in obtaining 'something' (for his clients), but we are interested in obtaining fair and complete compensation."
He said some of the judgments may reach the 7-figure category.
A host of civil lawsuits have been filed in Hamilton County and other Tennessee counties as well as in North Georgia against the Marsh family and the funeral homes that sent bodies to the site where 339 uncremated bodies were found.
There was also argument on a motion for a protective order, involving Brent Marsh declining to give a statement in the civil cases until his criminal case is over. Judge Thomas said that could be several years until all the appeals were final should he be convicted.
Attorney Jerry Summers, who also represents a number of families, said it might be in the interest of Mr. Poston to discuss with Brent Marsh about settling the criminal case, including giving a statement of what occurred at the crematory.
He said the statement might exonerate some who are now under suspicion in the case and delineate exactly when the facility stopped using its incinerator. He said that would "help ease some of the pain and suffering" of family members wondering if their loved one was actually cremated.
Mr. Summers said, "Only he (Poston) and his client can make that decision."
Mr. Poston introduced attorney Ron Cordova, of Newport Beach, Calif., who is the main attorney for the Marshes on the civil cases.
He noted the Marshes have "adverse interests" from the funeral homes.
An attorney for Franklin-Strickland Funeral Home agreed, saying, "The funeral homes are also victims. They were deceived. They were not aware of any of this going on."
Attorney Chris Clem said the funeral homes are running up big legal bills in the case already. He was at the hearing with two Georgia lawyers representing Layne Funeral Home of Palmer, Tn.
Mr. Clem said that funeral home only sent one body to Tri-State Crematory, but is involved in litigation in state court in Hamilton County and Walker County and federal court in Rome, Ga. He said the ashes of the one body sent by the funeral home and received from the crematory "were spread in the Gulf of Mexico."
Attorneys for the funeral homes argued against going back too far in time. They said there had been one case documented by the GBI thus far of a family member "doctoring" ashes, alleging to be able to file suit and "jump on the bandwagon."
Attorneys said a hearing has been set in Washington, D.C., on May 30 before a Multiple Dispute Litigation panel on a request that there be a national class action. Attorney Smith said he plans to go to Washington to oppose that.
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