Posted on 12/11/2007 5:39:22 PM PST by McCoMo
A Family's Nightmare: Accident Photos of Their Beautiful Daughter Released Family of Nikki Catsouras Has Sued Investigators for Allegedly Releasing Accident Pictures
Not long after their 18-year-old daughter died in a car accident, Christos and Lesli Catsouras were forced to relive their grief.
They soon began receiving anonymous e-mails and text messages that contained photographs of the accident, including pictures of Nicole Catsouras' decapitated body, still strapped to the crumpled remains of her father's Porsche. A fake MySpace page was created, which at first looked like a tribute to Catsouras but also led to the horrific photos.
"What type of individual would do that?" asked Christos.
The pictures, taken by California Highway Patrol officers and e-mailed outside the department, spread around the Internet, making their way to about 1,600 Web sites, according to an investigator hired by family. The images became so persistent that Lesli Catsouras stopped checking her e-mail. Nikki's three younger sisters were forbidden to use the Internet, and 16-year-old Danielle was taken out of school to be home schooled out of fear that her peers might confront her with the pictures.
"There was threats that people were gonna put the pictures on my locker, in my locker," said Danielle. "I remember her in such a great way, I don't wanna see it and have that image stuck in my head."
"I've stopped using my e-mail," says Lesli Catsouras. "I don't want to see these every single day. …And you know, I take a risk every time I go on the computer."
We talk about Nikki all the time, " said Christos. "We've got pictures of her everywhere, We laugh about her, cry. I always called her Angel."
A judge in California ruled that the Catsouras family's lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol for allegedly releasing the accident scene pictures can go forward. According to Catsouras family attorney Tyler Offenhauser, the ruling is a significant step toward getting justice for Nikki because a jury will now decide whether the CHP must take responsibility for its employees' conduct of disseminating the graphic photos outside the agency.
"They were crime scene pictures that never, ever should have gone out," Christos Catsouras said. "There was a big mistake made by the California Highway Patrol that was never really acknowledged, or they never wanted to help us once that mistake had been made."
The California Highway Patrol declined to comment on the case, citing the pending litigation. Though the CHP has admitted in a letter to the Catsouras family that its dispatchers violated department policy, it has said it is not legally responsible for the Catsourases' anguish.
According to state highway patrol reports, at approximately 1:45 p.m. last Halloween, 15 minutes after taking her father's Porsche 911 for a drive without permission, Nikki Catsouras was traveling 100 mph on State Route 241, near Lake Forest, Calif., when she clipped another car and lost control, slamming into a concrete tollbooth, killing her instantly.
Personally, if someone sent pics like this of my child to my family members... they that person had better worry about buying a bullet-proof vest. Getting sued would be the LEAST of their problems.
I don’t think you’d be able to track down everyone who disseminated the photos, but the CHP is, and should be, in trouble for allowing unauthorized persons access to the photos.
There was threats? Definitely not homeskooled.
My heart goes out to this family; but I am also realistic in knowing there can and will be no justice served for them.
Sorry if I doubled up. Did a search on the girls name and found nothing.
That’s ok, the double post police are always on the job.
No prob, it was quite a while ago
Tracking down the few folks who actually emailed the pics to the mother would not be quite so difficult.
Heads should roll at the CHP.
People are so folking sick these days.
It would have been wise to take the T-bird away, before that happened.
"Though the CHP has admitted in a letter to the Catsouras family that its dispatchers violated department policy, it has said it is not legally responsible for the Catsourases' anguish."
Maybe, and maybe not. But there is no doubt they are MORALLY responsible. I hope a jury hangs the CHP out to dry.
You have surely seen cars that have been wrecked on display... Guess what? It’s hard on the family of the deceased... But it saves lives. Period!
Oh no! Glad no one else was killed.
My taxes my documents.
How will emailing pics to the family save lives?
Damn right. Driving studidly is sure to result in a lot of seriesly stuned beebers.
“How will emailing pics to the family save lives?”
Posting them on the web might... It’s still the same as putting a mangled car outside a school on Forth of July weekend.
The parents should stand down and so should you, drama queen.
Won’t save a single life. Kids always think death is something that will happen to OTHER people.
Wrong. Some people pay attn.
Who cares. Get a life.
Intelligent ones... those who pay attention... do not need vivid photos to know that striking a concrete toll booth at 100 mph will likely be fatal.
Thanks for the post.
Don’t worry about rude people around here. Just keep doing your best.
How in the world did you find it? Search on decapitated?
“Don’t worry about rude people”
LOL, I never do.
Intelligent ones appreciate the graphics. The other ones miss the point entirely. BTW, that was mommy and daddy that enabled the generation of that pic in the first place. The CHP had nothing to do with that.
Everyone show some respect to the family and to each other.
Since you seem to not be a fan of basic,decent citizen privacy rights, I take it you would not have a problem if a bunch of sinister hackers decided to concentrate on your every daily move, and publish everything they could possibly attain about your daily routines, in a blog?
That wouldn’t be stalking, would it?
After all, you should have no expectation of any privacy outside of your own fortress!
Then I suppose I should be able to access your criminal background (INCLUDING juvenile), tax records, any health records or other documents the govt may possess about YOU, after all.. My taxes, My documents.
i’ve seen the pics. not good. i’m sure you can google them and find them. this is not the proper forum, imho.
I have no desire to even see the pics, let alone post them. I have seen enough dead bodies, first-hand, to suit me. Unlike some people.. I do not have to look at such things to get my rocks off.
It’s very surprising to see the reactions of students when they watch assemblies which show the results of this kind of carelessness.
Didn’t you bring the subject up in the first place? Your talking about pictures that (almost) no one has seen...
Maybe they aren't using them "to get their rocks off" but as a sobering warning to teens about the dangers of speed and not paying attention to the road. They didn't show you Signal 30 or Mechanized Death in Driver's Ed class?
Why do we elevate the people’s right to do and say stupid things which can have devastating effects on others. We seem to be raising a generation of barbarians were it is ok to mock and make fun of anything. For example, there were a shocking number of people who were ready to defend the students who recently dressed up as UVA Murder Victims for Holloween. Its things like this that make me wish that the old customs about dueling had not been abolished - at least back then people had to have some common decensy in what they publically said and did.
If they put a decapitated body in the mangled car, I would agree that might be the same thing.
There's a REASON these 'scared straight' type of campaigns don't use photos of identifiable accident victims. It's called respect for the dead and family members of the deceased. Some family members, however, do allow photos of their deceased loved ones to be used for training purposes and for safe driving campaigns. If the family gives permission, that's another story.
I personally don't think these types of photos deter the sort of teens and adults who drive like maniacs, anyway. They think they're invincible and that it can't happen to them. Illegally e-mailing and posting these photos over the internet, in this particular case, I believe served no purpose other than to feed ghoulish tendencies and torment the family. There were no altruistic motives in this case, IMO.
You think sending the photos to the family was a sobering warning about the dangers of speed? Somehow I get idea that the family has already gotten that message. In spades.
They will settle out of court, if it goes to trial they will need to up the names of everyone that touched the pictures. Whom ever is in charge there needs to be fired as well as the district supervisor.
Ignore the posting police. I was on vacation the week that the first thread was posted and missed it completely, no computer available.
The fact that some many people seem so morbidly obsessed with these pictures is really unsettling. The family has enough to deal with. Tormenting them on top of it accomplishes nothing and that’s sick. It’s also a sign of the real sickness of our society that people would circulate stuff like this so prolifically. Too many people have too much time on their hands.
“Why do we elevate the people’s right to do and say stupid things which can have devastating effects on others. “
Freedom of speech is not about speech that everyone wants to hear. It’s about speech that is stupid and offends people...
I’ve seen them. You don’t want to.
Some of the replies on this thread are downright repulsive. For God’s sake, a young woman lost her life and people are tormenting her family with gruesome photos of her death...and some here are defending those actions.
I don’t know what the policy is here, but I would HOPE that anyone who would post the photos would be permanently banned.
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