In Foley v. Phelps (1 App Div 551 [1st Dept 1896]) the plaintiff's husband fell into an elevator shaft, and died approximately three hours after having been transported to Bellevue Hospital. It was alleged by plaintiff that an autopsy was performed without consent, and thus without any lawful authority. In recognizing that a cause of action existed, the Court observed that the right to possession of the body for burial carried with it the right to "possession of the corpse in the same condition it was in when death supervened" (at 555), and that the violation of that legal right gave rise to a private cause of action for damages. The right was not founded on a "property right" as such in the corpse, but instead, in the right to possess the corpse for the purpose of decent burial (at 555-556): "The right is to the possession of the corpse in the same condition it was in when death supervened. It is the right to what remains when the breath leaves the body, and not merely to such a hacked, hewed, and mutilated corpse as some stranger, an offender against the criminal law, may choose to turn over to an afflicted relative. If this right exists, as we think it clearly does, the invasion or violation of it furnishes a ground for a civil action for damages. It is not a mere idle utterance, but a substantial legal principle, that wherever a real right is violated, a real remedy is afforded by the law."