State of Louisiana DEPART OF USTICE CL ONSION Po. sox aos aon ROUSE TED 808 Jeff Landry ‘Aomey Gener Re: New Orleans Indigent Cemetery LeBlane disinterment aT ‘We write to you today to follow-up on some minimal e-mail communications that we exchanged ‘over the past few days regarding the above-captioned matter. Since our lst e-mail eommunigué to you, we have leamed a great deal about this matter and feel duty-bound to provide the City with our thoughts, recommendations, and cautionary observations on this matter as attorneys, regulators, and forensic scientists forthe State with the unique moniker of being the only experts in recent history o have suecessfully recovered human remains from the New Orleans Indigent Cemetery (*Cemetery") ‘As an initial matter, it should be bore in mind that neither the State of Louisiana nor the Office Of the Atterey General asserts or hereby exercises any primary jurisdiction over the sought Gisinterment of Mr, Farris Jerome LeBlane's mortal remains from the Cemetery. Further, although the Louisiana Cemetery Board, a client agency of this Office, has regulatory authority fover the Cemetery, it docs not have direct control over the accomplishment of proper disinterments under Louisiana law (rather would have oversight over violations ofthese laws by ‘cemetery authority). It i also important to note that the interment of Mr. LeBlane predates ‘even the cteation of that regulatory body in 1974 as well as the passage of the Louisiana ‘Cemetery Act in that same year (Acis 1974, No. 417), Thus, the information provided herein is merely intended to be our informal observations and suggestions based upon daily experience with the applicable laws, our historic knowledge of the Cemetery, and as experienced forensic scientistslarchaeologiss ‘The sought disinterment of Mr. LeBlanc falls squarely under the disinterment provisions of La. R.S, 8:659, which states (emphasis added) A. The remains of a deceased person may be moved from a cemetery space to another cemetery space in the same cemetery or to another cemetery with thefew Orleans Indigent Cemetery, LeBlanc Disinterment ‘consent of the cemetery authority and the written consent of one of the following, in the order named, unless other specific directions, inthe form of @ ‘nojarial testament or a written and notarized declaration, have been given by the decedent; (1) The surviving spouse, if there is no pending petition for divorce filed by either spouse prior to the death ofthe decedent spouse. (2) A majority ofthe surviving adult chien ofthe deeoéent. (9) A majority ofthe surviving adult grandehilren ofthe decedent (4) The surviving prens ofthe decedent (6) A majority of the surviving adult siblings of the deeedent B. Ifthe required consent cannot be obtained, a final judgment of the district court of the parish where the cemetery is situated shail berequired. Based upon the information that we have gleaned ftom various news sources on this matter, i is cour understanding that Mr. LeBlanc died with no relatives that can authorize his disinterment save for adult siblings. The news sources that we have seen on this matter mention only a surviving sister, We are unaware if there are other surviving siblings. We strongly suggest that the City seek formal proof from any claimant sibling for th disintemment that she is (or they are, fs the case may be) the only surviving sibling of Mr. LeBlanc before granting its authorization for the disinterment. If such proof cannot be provided, we believe thatthe City must ask for @ court order of disinterment under La. R.S. 8:659(B) from a judge inthe Civil District Court of the Parish of Orleans prior to granting its approval as contemplated in La, RS. 8:65%(A). Beyond the basic issue of proper authority to seek a disinterment, our review of the media reports on this matter have raised several questions that we believe the City needs to obtain answers to before it authorizes any disinterment from the Cemeter/. The following isa ist of those questions and, where necessary, an explanation of the purpose forthe question. 1, las somcone representing the City reviewed the interment records or death cenificate? ‘The validity and accuracy of these records will be eriticel to positively locating Mr. LeBlane’s remains and, because his interment predstes the slatwlory requirement for ‘modem cemetery recordkeeping, itis important to know the source ofthese records and ‘whether the information is accurate and complete 2, Where did the information regarding the indigent eemetery come from? Also, where did the information of a specific location come from?Re: New Orleans Indigent Cemetery, LeBlanc Disinterment Page? AAs alluded to above, Mr. LeBlane was interred in the Cemetery before mandatory recordation of intermenis. The media sources that we have reviewed on Mr. LeBlane’s burial location suggest thatthe family has obtained that provides both a row and grave space number forthe cemetery. We are aware of no existing maps of the cemetery from. the 1973 era, Further, when we conducted the 2015 disinterment in the Cemetery, the row and grave space numbers were of a substantially different configuration to what has bbeen reported for Mr. LeBlanc in the media. While there may be a rational explanation for these discrepancies, we strongly suggest that the City check into the accuracy of this locational information prior to authorizing a disinterment under La, RS. 8:659. ‘What Funeral home was involved at the time of the interments? Again, this gets at verifying the completeness of what records do seem to exist. While ‘we are aware that Resthaven Memorial Park is located adjacent to the Cemetery and has, from time-to-time operated the Cemetery on behalf of the City, it was not necessarily the associated funeral home with interments atthe time of Mr. LeBlane’s death. Although the news has reported that some documents exist to suggest where Mr. LeBlanc is interred in the Cemetery, thus, in order (0 ensure that only necessary disturbances are ceaused to potentially nearby burials, the provenience of the burial and any records ‘associated therewith is key. Checking the records of the appropriate funeral home might ‘be useful to ensure as much precision as possible during any attempted disinterment. ‘What (if any) hstorieal records exist regarding the day of interment? ‘As you both know, few (if any) spaces in this Cemetery ate single interments. Again, as reported in several media stores, there were at least three unidentified individuals as well fas “a few” bodies that were unclaimed. It is probable that most, if not all, of these individuals were interred in the Cemetery at the same time as Mr. LeBlanc. Thus, it ‘would be prudent to assess the likelihood that other bodies from the same tragic event ‘were butied on or very nearly to the same day, complicating recovery efforts of a single individual. Additionally, this information may provide some indication of what external identifiers may have been affixed tothe remains for positive identification, ‘Are there any records of Mr. LeBlanc's remains that exist today for use in identification ‘of the remains or will there need to be a records search (such as coroners, fire investigation, criminal investigation, military records, ete.? ‘While a search of these records will take additonal time and effort, any and all details of the mortal remains of Mr. LeBlanc may become paramount to his proper identification, ‘As you recall from the last disiterment from this Cemetery, the commingled nature of the remains in each burial pit made any documentation related to the deceased ator about the time of death critical to a positive identification of the individual that was being sought. However, the soluble nature of materials afixed to and encasing the bodies may hhave deteriorated in the intervening 4S years, rendering recovery and easy identificationRe: New Orleans Indigent Cemetery, LeBlane Page 4 difficult, The absence of such records may substantilly hamper identifiation efforts of ‘Mr, LeBlane's remains inthe likely event that be is in a multiple burial environment. \Was the body interred in the standard indigent “casket” (Le, a body bag and plywood box) ora metal casket? Its unclear fiom the media images that we have seen in what sort of ural container Mir. LeBlane’s remains were intered. Knowledge ofthis information is going to be important to identifying the proper remains in the ground and any information thatthe family or the City has related to this interment would be crucial to the recovery. Once agein, the soluble nature of these materials may affect the method of disinterment and sensitivity of the recovery efforts, ‘Who is performing the location analysis? Do they have qualifications to do so? ‘The media reports on the family's proposed efforts to locate Mr. LeBlane’s grave seem to include a triangulation ofthe original grave location based upon comparisons of histor and modem land features from photographic evidence. While photogrammetry is a Usefil foo! and a respected and accepted field of expertise, not everyone is qualified to conduct such complex calculations as would be required for such a triangulation, The result of an incorrect calculation in this instance could be the disinterment of someone ‘without authority, an unfortunate result indeed. Accordingly, we recommend that, pri to the City authorizing any disinterment under La. R.S. 8:659, you review the credentials ‘of anyone who conducted the photogrammetric interpretations of the supposed burial Tocation to ensure that the person is qualified to make such conclusions and has minimized the risk of disinterring the wrong individual. Further, is there any knowledge regarding whether the media images that exlst today are simply those of a burial from the Upstairs Lounge tragedy or are they specifically those of Mr, LeBlanc? ‘The basis for this question is that, ifthe images are just ofa burial and not Mr. LeBlanc's burial, they may provide misleading information fo the family and to those seeking to ‘undertake the seareh for Mr, LeBlane's remains. Further, ifelied upon alone asthe basis for Mr. LeBlane's burial location, it is possible that someone else's remains may be retrieved in error, thus failing to fulfill the LeBlanc family goals and possibly ‘unnecessarily disturbing the final resting place of someone unrelated to this tragedy. Unfortunately, beeause this is « possibility, legal precautions such as those employed in 2015 should be implemented inthis situation ‘Who will be performing the formal identification of the body? ‘As you will recall from the last disinterment from this Cemetery, even when the location of the burial vas known on paper, both multiple anthropological and destructive DNA tests were required to make a positive identification ofthe sought remains. In the likelyRe: New Orleans Indigent Cemetery, LeBlanc Disinierment Page S ‘event much of the semi-permanent identification once associated withthe remains is no longer visible, i will be essential for those undertaking the disinterment to be able to accomplish the oflen-iffcult process of identification. In this regard, we caution the City, as the cemetery authority, that, because of the chances of dsinterment of the wrong individual, it authorize the disinterment under La. R.S. 8:659 only upon satisfaction that ‘qualified Forensic scientists will be available (preferably on-site) to undertake the necessary field identification of any reeavered remains and to coordinate any subsequent laboratory analyses that may be required. ‘Who will be coordinating these efforts among the City, family, and recovery operations? ‘We suggest that the family be forthrightly consulted regarding the possible obstacles and. difficulties inherent in such work so that expectations can be properly managed, With so many legal aspects, record keeping, document research, and actual recovery efforts ‘ecurring at the same time, we recommend that there be an identified centralized communication person to assist all parties to resolve the issue smoothly ‘Again, as noted above, the information presented here is intended to be suggestions for the ‘proper framing of a disinterment in the New Orleans Indigent Cemetery and the questions and ‘suggestions are intended to assist the City in determining under what circumstances to grant disinterment authorization pursuant to La. R.S. 8:659 and to help ensute that the family's ‘expectations are reasonably managed. Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate st or via telephone at With best regard, we are, Very truly yours, JEFF LANDRY ‘ATTORNEY GENERAL 7 By: Ryan t Seid x Assign Attomey General Christine L. Halling, RPA Anthropologist IURMSICLHIp Lucy L. MeCann, Director, Louisiana Cemetery Board Andrew David, Office of Representative Clay Higgins