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Revision as of 02:18, 10 January 2009 by Blue Danube (talk | contribs) (→Legal action)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras (born March 4, 1988, died October 31, 2006) was a young American woman who died at the age of 18 as a result of a car crash after losing control of her father's Porsche Carrera at high speed, and colliding with a toll booth in Orange County, California. The death was notable for a controversy surrounding the leakage of photographs of Catsouras' badly damaged body on to the Internet, which caused her family to take legal action due to distress about the incident.
Leakage of photographs to the Internet
Photographs of the scene of Catsouras' death were taken by California Highway Patrol officers as part of standard fatal vehicle accident procedures. These photos were then forwarded to others within the Department. Two CHP PSDSIs (Public Safety Dispatch Supervisor I), Aaron Reich and Thomas O'Donnell, admitted to sending these photos to their personal e-mail accounts in violation of CHP policy. PSDSI O'Donnell later stated in interviews that he only sent the photos to his own e-mail account for viewing at a later time, while PSDSI Reich stated that he had forwarded the pictures to four other people. Catsouras' parents soon discovered the photographs online which had gained much attention, including in the form of a fake MySpace tribute website which actually contained links to the photographs. This led to the Catsouras family withdrawing from Internet use and even homeschooling Nikki's younger sister due to the possibility that she might have been taunted with the photographs.
Legal action
A judge in California ruled that it would be appropriate for the family's legal case against the California Highway Patrol for leaking the photographs to go ahead. The family hired ReputationDefender to handle the legal case. This led to the California Highway Patrol issuing a formal apology and took action to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, after discovering that departmental policy had been violated by two California Highway Patrol Dispatcher Supervisors who were being held responsible for the leakage of the photographs.
As of March 21, 2008, the final ruling in the legal case was issued. Judge Steven L. Perk dismissed the case against the Department of the California Highway Patrol after both Reich and O'Donnell were removed as defendants. Judge Perk stated that the two were not under any responsibility for protecting the privacy of the Catsouras family, effectively ending the basis for the case. The family's legal team is appealing.
References
- Obituary. Orange County Register.
- ^ A Family's Nightmare: Accident Photos of Their Beautiful Daughter Released. ABC News.
- "Judge dismisses suit over CHP photo leak". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
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