PHOENIX (AP) — Jurors have started deliberations in the civil trial involving a now-closed body donation facility in Phoenix.
The relatives of 23 people whose remains were donated to the Biological Resource Center contend in a lawsuit that the facility mishandled their deceased loved ones and misled them about how the remains would be used.
The suit alleges the facility committed fraud by claiming the donated bodies would be used for medical research, when in at least two cases it knew the human remains would be sold for use in destructive military testing.
Company owner Stephen Gore pleaded guilty in October 2015 to a felony charge for his role in mishandling donated body parts.
The Arizona Republic reports lawyers for the plaintiffs say their clients should get jury awards of $13.2 million apiece.
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