High court to decide if family can sue over death report

PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Supreme Court is set to decide if the family of a young woman can sue state police because they were incorrectly told she had died in a car accident.

The court is expected to rule Thursday on whether Maria and Jose Guerra and their daughter April can sue the Department of Public Safety for negligence. DPS officers told the parents in 2010 that the then-19-year-old known as Abby had been killed.

Instead, it was one of her friends who died in the rollover accident. The friend's parents stood vigil at the Phoenix hospital where she was reportedly being treated.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office didn't discover the mix-up until six days later.

A trial court dismissed the Guerra's lawsuit but it was revived by an appeals court.