1:19 p.m. update
A former Jacksonville funeral home director charged with mishandling corpses was overwhelmed by profit-minded owners, his lawyer said in an opening trial statement Monday, countering a prosecutor's assertion that he was responsible for the business's daily operations.
Ed Snow remains the only former manager of Arkansas Funeral Care to face the possibility of jail time after a 2015 investigation that found dozens of bodies were left in various states of decomposition due to overcrowded conditions.
He is charged with nine counts of abuse of a corpse, and his trial this week is expected to last two or three days, Circuit Court Judge Chris Piazza said.
In an earlier case last month, owners Rodney and Leroy Wood avoided jail time by pleading guilty as a corporate entity, which was fined $50,000.
Defense attorney Lee Short said several former employees at Arkansas Funeral Care would testify that the Woods — motivated by profits — pressured employees to accept more bodies over objections that conditions were becoming overcrowded.
"Everyone will say they were overworked and understaffed and that the Woods knew about it," Short said.
Prosecutor Tonia Acker said in her opening remarks that as the day-to-day overseer of operations, Snow allowed the overcrowding, which amounts to mistreatment that would "offend a person of reasonable sensibilities," the statutory requirement for corpse abuse.
She said she planned on showing jurors photographs of the bodies taken by an inspector in January 2015.
During jury selection, two women were excused after saying they would be made overly distraught by the sight of the photos.
Check back for updates and read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.
11:45 a.m. update
A jury has been seated in the trial of an Arkansas funeral home manager accused of mishandling corpses.
The jury of eight women, four men and one female alternate was picked before 11:45 a.m. Opening statements were expected to begin shortly.
Check back for updates and read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.
10:12 a.m. update
The trial for a former Arkansas funeral home manager accused of mishandling corpses began with jury selection Monday.
Edward Snow is charged with 10 counts of abusing a corpse, stemming from an investigation of the business in early 2015 that found multiple bodies left out of coolers in various states of decay.
The owners of the Jacksonville-based Arkansas Funeral Care avoided jail time last month in a plea agreement that handed the corporate entity a $50,000 fine.
Prosecutors had earlier removed Snow as a co-defendant from the case involving the two owners.
Before jury selection began, Deputy prosecutor Tonia Acker requested that information involving the owners' plea deal not be brought up during trial. Snow's defense attorney said he did not believe it would be relevant.
Prosecutors also dropped four counts of corpse abuse that had been brought against Snow.