## Facts

- Lynn entered a burial ground and dug up a grave.
- He opened a coffin, removed a dead body, and carried the corpse away.
- The purpose of the removal was anatomical dissection, not theft of burial goods.
- Lynn argued his conduct was not criminal because a corpse is not property at common law and an older statute addressed only taking bodies for witchcraft or sorcery.

## Issues

1. Whether disinterring and removing a buried human corpse for anatomical dissection is a common-law misdemeanor, notwithstanding the rule that there is no property in a corpse.
2. Whether a statute targeting removal of bodies for witchcraft limits or displaces common-law criminal liability for other unauthorized exhumations.
3. Whether a medical or scientific purpose negates criminal liability for disturbing a grave and removing a corpse.

## Decision

- The Court of King’s Bench declined to arrest judgment and sustained the conviction.
- The court held that unauthorized disinterment and removal of a corpse from a graveyard is punishable at common law.
- The court treated the wrong as a public offense tied to disturbance of burial and public decency, not as theft of property.
- The court rejected the argument that the witchcraft-focused statute confined criminality to occult-related removals.
- The medical or anatomical purpose did not excuse the conduct.

## Legal Principles

- A human corpse is traditionally regarded as *nullius in bonis* (not ordinary property), but lack of property status does not prevent criminal punishment for unauthorized exhumation.
- Disturbing a grave and removing a buried body without lawful authority is an indictable common-law misdemeanor as an offense against public decency and the “peace of the grave.”
- A statute criminalizing removal of corpses for witchcraft does not impliedly authorize other removals and does not eliminate common-law misdemeanor liability.
- Motive to support anatomical study does not, by itself, provide a legal justification for grave-robbing.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Lynn’s conviction, recognizing a common-law misdemeanor for unauthorized exhumation and removal of a corpse based on protection of burial and public decency rather than property-based theft concepts.


Rex v. Lynn, 100 Eng. Rep. 394 (K.B. 1788)