VEHICLE ACCIDENT: CHP to be sued after Releasing Gruesome Accident Photos
February 2, 2010
An appeals court has permitted an Orange County family to file a case against the California Highway Patrol (CHP) after its officers released a number of graphic accident-scene pictures.
A lower court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit against the department over the release of the pictures of 18-year-old Nikki Catsouras’ death in a vehicle crash along a Lake Forest toll road in 2006 was reversed by the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana.
CHP confessed that Officers Aaron Reich and Thomas O’Donnell e-mailed their family members and friends about nine pictures, which included images of Catsouras’ decapitated body, as stated in the 64-page ruling.
The family first filed a lawsuit against the department for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. However, most of the charges were dismissed by the Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven L. Perk.
The appeals court reversed this decision and allowed the victim’s family to file a lawsuit with the aim of setting a precedent that may avoid trauma to the loved ones of future accident victims.
