Former Downard owner Lance Peck's legal woes continue

POCATELLO — Former Downard Funeral Home owner Lance Peck could be personally liable for all damages related to over a dozen civil lawsuits filed against him after his former insurance company filed a suit in federal court claiming it has no duty to defend him because of the criminal allegations he faces.

Not only could Peck, 49, of Pocatello, be held financially liable for several civil lawsuits, but court documents recently obtained by the Idaho State Journal also shed light on his financial situation. A collection agency has sued him for unpaid fines related to the license he had to be a mortician and he was recently denied an application that would have essentially declared him as being indigent, which would have afforded him an attorney at the expense of local taxpayers.

FEDERATED MUTUAL INSURANCE LAWSUIT

In a lawsuit filed against Peck last year, his former insurance provider, Federated Mutual Insurance Co., has asked the U.S. District Court of Idaho to “declare that there is no insurance coverage, defense or indemnity available to (Peck).”

The lawsuit states that “this action stems from thirteen underlying matters brought against (Peck) by family members of deceased individuals arising out of (Peck’s) alleged misconduct relating to funeral, burial and/or final disposition services for the respective decedents between 2019 to 2021.”

The suit lists Peck, his wife Diane, a limited liability company that was shared by the couple before it was administratively dissolved, as well as Downard Funeral Home and the crematory that was contained inside the business, Portneuf Valley Crematory, as defendants.

The lawsuit was initially filed in August 2023 when Peck faced seven civil suits by families affected by how he handled business at Downard, but a 45-page amended complaint was filed in October 2023 after six more civil suits were filed, bringing the total to 13.

The insurance company's lawsuit says the U.S. District Court of Idaho is the correct venue to hear the argument “because the matter in controversy exceeds $75,000,” but an exact amount of the potential damages was not listed in the suit, nor were any specific damage amounts included in any of the 13 individual suits filed against Peck in state court.

Specifically, the Federated Mutual Insurance Co. suit states that the pertinent part of the criminal allegations levied against Peck are several misdemeanor counts of violating the mortician’s code of conduct.

“Defendants have not tendered the criminal action to Federated under the Federated policies and Federated has no obligation under the policies to defend or indemnify defendants for the criminal actions,” the suit states. “The allegations in certain counts of the criminal action, however, factually overlap with and/or relate to the allegations brought in the underlying matters, which are all civil matters.”

In addition to asking that the court declare that there is no insurance coverage available to Peck, of which all of his annual policies included $1 million occurrence and aggregate limits as well as $500,000 employer liability limits, the Federated suit asks to be awarded attorneys’ fees and “any and all relief deemed equitable and just.”

In February, the federal judge handling the Federated lawsuit put the case on hold pending the adjudication of Peck’s criminal cases, which remain ongoing.

CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS AGAINST PECK

Peck faces a litany of both misdemeanor and felony charges in connection to his operation of Downard Funeral Home, where a dozen bodies in various stages of decomposition were found in September 2021.

Peck was charged in October 2023 with 22 felonies, including seven counts of grand theft by deception, five counts of furnishing false vital statistics information, four counts of income tax evasion, two counts of offering false records, two counts of computer fraud and two counts of perjury. The felony charges stem from Peck’s operation of Downard between 2017 and 2021, court records show.

At least 25 families either didn’t receive any cremated remains or received the wrong cremated remains from Peck during his operation of the funeral home that was formerly located at 241 N. Garfield Ave. in Pocatello.

Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 acquired the former Downard building for $500,000, demolished it in March 2023 and later turned the property into a parking lot for the nearby Pocatello High School.

The felony charges are in addition to 48 misdemeanor charges Peck currently faces stemming from a Pocatello police investigation in 2021 that revealed he had allegedly mishandled the remains and cremated remains of dozens of people whose families trusted him to provide funeral and cremation services.

Peck was initially arrested and charged with 63 misdemeanors in August 2022, including 60 misdemeanor counts of unprofessional conduct by morticians, funeral directors or embalmers and three misdemeanor counts of petit theft after Pocatello police executed a search warrant in September 2021 at Downard, which led to the discovery of the 12 bodies in various stages of decomposition, approximately 50 fetuses in jars and dozens of unidentified cremated remains.

In January, 15 of the 60 misdemeanor counts of unprofessional conduct by morticians, funeral directors or embalmers were dismissed after Bannock County prosecutors filed an amended complaint. Prosecutors said the amended complaint was filed to clean up redundant charges.

DENIED MOTION FOR ATTORNEY AT PUBLIC’S EXPENSE

Mention of the Federated lawsuit was contained within a March 15 order from the 6th District judge handling Peck’s case, Javier Gabiola, that denied an application from Peck for an attorney at the public’s expense.

Peck submitted two different applications for a public defender before Gabiola ruled on the matter.

“In reviewing (Peck’s) second application, the court notes that the defendant is not employed and has no current income, outside that of his spouse's income,” Gabiola wrote. “The court also acknowledges that (Peck) is currently involved in other legal actions and could be, but is not currently, financially liable in those cases.”

The order from Gabiola states that in his applications, Peck represented that the assets he and his wife Diane have currently include $8,543, two vehicles and a home in Bannock County valued at approximately $200,000.

“The court may consider that (Peck) attempted to use his property interest as collateral in obtaining a loan to pay for counsel,” Gabiola wrote. “However, there were only a couple of attempts with Washington Federal and D.L. Evans Bank. The information that (Peck) was unsuccessful in securing financing through the equity of his property has been considered, but this one fact is not determinative in the court's decision. Also, while (Peck) represented that he intends to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, the current record shows that has not been filed. Additionally, (Peck) averred that he was scheduled to mediate the declaratory action currently pending in federal court, however, at this time whether or not (Peck) may have insurance coverage toward any civil liability is still an unresolved issue.”

Gabiola, in denying the applications, stated that Peck “has not met his burden to show that he is currently indigent.” In spite of the ruling and Peck’s apparent inability to continue paying for representation, Peck’s Pocatello attorney, Richard Blok, is still listed as his attorney of record.

When contacted for this article, Blok declined to comment.

LAWSUIT RELATED TO UNPAID FINES FOR MORTICIAN’S LICENSE

In addition to the lawsuits filed by over a dozen families and Peck’s former insurance provider, a collection agency working on behalf of the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses has also filed a lawsuit against Peck for unpaid fines.

The suit filed in February by Action Collection Service Inc. is the latest of several civil lawsuits Peck faces related to his alleged mishandling of funeral and cremation services for dozens of families.

The civil complaint Action Collection Service Inc. filed against Peck states he owes the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, or DOPL, which oversees the Idaho Board of Morticians, a total of $7,639.84 for “business license fines incurred on, about or prior to Jan. 31, 2022.”

The amount includes a principal figure of $6,579.43 and interest of $1,060.41 that began accumulating at a .12 annual rate from May 3, 2022, the complaint states.

The civil suit does not contain any other details related to the fine or explain why it was levied against Peck.

When reached for comment, the Idaho DOPL declined to provide specifics of the potential disciplinary actions Peck may have faced related to his business license. The DOPL cited an Idaho law that states such information is exempt from disclosure.

When asked to comment on the status of the lawsuit or why it was filed, the DOPL declined, citing a policy not to comment on pending litigation.

The Idaho State Journal reached out to Shaun R. Bonney, the Boise attorney representing Action Collection Service Inc. as well as Idaho Falls attorney Aaron J. Tolson, who is representing Peck in the Action Collection Service Inc. lawsuit, but did not receive a response from either.

Tolson filed a response to the civil suit on Peck’s behalf on April 4 denying the allegations and stating that Action Collection Service Inc. “has failed to mitigate its damages, if any.”

The Action Collection Service Inc. lawsuit brings the total number of civil suits filed against Peck to 14.

Three of those civil suits that were filed in state court have since been dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled, and all but the Action Collection Service Inc. suit have currently been put on hold until the criminal allegations against Peck are resolved.

Gabiola on March 20 issued an order granting a motion from Bannock County prosecutors that requested that the misdemeanor and felony cases filed against Peck become joined for purposes of trial.

Peck’s attorney and Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog are still attempting to mediate the criminal allegations. Herzog recently told the Journal that a mediation hearing was scheduled for April 26, but Herzog has reached out to Blok and the 6th District senior judge handling the mediation, Stephen S. Dunn, to see if that can be rescheduled because of another conflicting mediation.

Peck is due back in state court in front of Gabiola for a status conference update regarding his criminal matters on April 29.

If convicted of all the current felony charges and the sentences are ordered to be served consecutively, Peck faces a maximum penalty of 227 years in prison and a fine of up to $140,000.