Posted on 02/03/2010 5:27:27 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - Two California Highway Patrol officers who emailed gruesome photos of a decapitated 18-year-old accident victim to their friends on Halloween, "for pure shock value," must answer to claims brought by the victim's family after the images "were strewn about the Internet and spit back at family members, accompanied by hateful messages," a California appeals court ruled.
Justice Richard Aronson revived the family's privacy claims and chided the officers for their allegedly "morally deficient" behavior. Officers Thomas O'Donnell and Aaron Reich emailed nine photos of Nikki Catsouras to their families and friends on Halloween night, and photos started "popping up in thousands of Web sites" across the United States and the United Kingdom, the ruling states.
The morbid photos were then "spit back" at the victim's family with taunts about their daughter. Catsouras' father, Christos Catsouras, received disturbing emails, including one entitled "Woo Hoo Daddy" that said, "Hey Daddy I'm still alive." "[F]amily members have a common law privacy right in the death images of a decedent," Justice Aronson ruled, overturning the lower court's decisions sustaining the officers' demurrers and dismissing the case. Though California law doesn't bar the media from discussing or portraying the life of a decedent, it does protect death images, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled.
The Catsouras family had accused the officers of causing them emotional distress intentionally and with reckless disregard. Those accusations were enough to sustain the action, Justice Aronson ruled.
The court also allowed the family's negligence claims, ruling that the officers and the department had a duty of care not to put accident photos on the Internet. Aronson said the alleged actions were "morally deficient," and said he hoped the ruling would protect families from such abuses in the future. "We rely upon the CHP to protect and serve the public," Aronson wrote. "It is antithetical to that expectation for the CHP to inflict harm upon us by making the ravaged remains of our loved ones the subjects of Internet sensationalism. It is important to prevent future harm to other families by encouraging the CHP to establish and enforce policies to preclude its officers from engaging in such acts ever again."
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take them to the cleaners!!!!
Moronic. Anyone involved in this work should have the decency to respect the victims and their families. Send them packing.
My Wife’s Grandfather (RIP) was a volunteer fire captain, and when they would pull out a body, he would line his guys up in an honor guard and load up the body, then go back to fighting the fire or whatever. He showed respect, and dignity.
As a father of five, the thought of someone performing such a heinous act leaves me cold. I hope the family sues the crap out of the CHP unit for this. Bad enough to lose a daughter. I can only imagine what this has put them through. God help ‘em.
I Googled the girl’s name and six of the photos came up. One was so gross that it could cause nightmares. The Highway Patrolman that did this are nothing but scum.
That is dreadful. People are so sick.
Cop or not, I would beat the living hell out of the scum that did this if I were the father.
There is no excuse for such depravity.
I read about the accident and the distribution of the photos. Quite a few stupid parties in this entire sordid affair who had no regard for their fellow human beings.
An avoidable tragedy to begin with with an avoidable aftermath.
“The Highway Patrolman that did this are nothing but scum.”
I agree 100%. on the other hand, a drunk driver should have to see a couple of gruesome accident photos while in police custody. Might help “scare them straight”.
>> “for pure shock value,”
This is the type of stunt terrorists pull.
Of all the tragedy the armed forces suffer, the Military seems to handle this issue well.
There’s no obvious remedy for this stupidity that will alleviate the family’s suffering.
Special prayers to the family.
The Catsouras family should get a nice settlement from all parties involved.
I don’t know if I’d go as far as firing the cops, but it should hurt enough to make other CHiPs from making a similar insensitive mistake.
Those websites should also be taken down immediately!
Prayers to the family.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
Was this the girl who took out a tollbooth with her dad's 911?
I found a video. Didn’t know it was a video and wish I wouldn’t have seen it. Pictures I can handle, videos...?
Yes, it was a young woman who took out a toll booth in a new Porsche.
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