Family Files Claim Against CHP
A few days after Nikki Catsouras, 18, died in a car accident her family began receiving mysterious e-mails including, "gruesome, detailed scenes of the crash, including photos that showed the woman's decapitated body" according to the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-photos4feb04,0,5770661.story?track=mostviewed-homepage. The photographs had been taken by the California Highway Patrol investigators and improperly released to the public.
On Dec. 28, 2006 a claim was filed with the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, in which the Catsouras family requests $20 million for emotional distress and punitive damages. Currently, the CHP is working with the family to contact more than 800 websites posting the photographs, asking them to stop displaying the images.
According to the Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/homepage/article_1538883.php, a CHP official in Sacramento said the agency cannot discuss the claim filed by the Catsouras family and said the issue of the leaked images remains under investigation. The Register also reported that the Catsouras family has hired Reputation Defender to demand that Web site operators remove the offending pictures.
Comments
This is so incredibly sad, that someone would disrespect another person so badly in death.
I read a bit about Reputation Defender, and it is a great service it seems. So glad they could help this family out.
Posted by: Gabriella | February 13, 2007 11:48 PM