LADERA RANCH – Messages of support and outrage continue to flood a family taunted by images of their dead daughter on the Internet, as a key court date nears for two California Highway Patrol employees blamed for the leak.
The saga of Nicole Elise “Nikki” Catsouras, 18, decapitated in a car crash on Halloween 2006, was featured in a segment of ABC News’ “20/20” on Friday, generating hundreds of e-mails and phone message to her family and attorneys.
Now, CNN’s Nancy Grace is calling.
“Everything’s off the charts,” Nikki’s father, Christos, said.
The Catsouras family, of Ladera Ranch, sued the CHP and the two dispatchers for leaking the graphic images to the public, claiming violation of civil rights, invasion of privacy, negligence and other causes of action.
The lawsuit details the anguish suffered by Nikki’s parents and three younger sisters, including fake MySpace.com pages set up after her death and spam that popped up in the e-mail baskets of her parents, with attached photos of her corpse.
The taunting got so bad that one of Nikki’s sisters, Danielle, 16, stopped going to school and now is being home-schooled.
http://www.pollmonkey.com/s.asp?c=53719538&u=1315743633 DisplayVote43633(); Nikki, who was planning on studying photography in college, died when she took her father’s Porsche without permission and crashed while going over 100 mph into a toll booth on the 241 toll road near Lake Forest.
As a matter of policy, the CHP does not comment on pending litigation.
An attorney for one of the defendants said the civil lawsuit has no merit.
“There’s no question that people used these images cruelly – what people did to the family really upsets me,” said Jon Schlueter, a San Bernardino lawyer who represents defendant Aaron Reich. “Certainly, my client had no intention of causing the family grief, but based on the law, they don’t have a case.”
Reich, who since has resigned from the CHP, admitted e-mailing the photos to a few friends and relatives. Schlueter said Reich’s resignation from the agency was not related to the Catsouras matter.
Reich and co-defendant Thomas O’Donnell, who reportedly still works as a CHP dispatcher, cite in court papers their First Amendment rights to free speech in being responsible for the worldwide distribution of the photos through cyberspace.
Nikki’s right to privacy also ended with her death, said Schlueter, citing case law.
O’Donnell has admitted to e-mailing the photos to his home computer, but said in court papers that he had the right to do so within the scope of his employment.
The “20/20” segment, which included several photos of Nikki throughout the years and of the crumpled, black Porsche Carrera 911 but not her body, said O’Donnell was suspended for a few weeks for the leaks.
O’Donnell’s attorney, Rex Parris, was not available for comment.
Both Reich and O’Donnell, in separate legal motions, will try to get the lawsuit dismissed at a Jan. 4 hearing before Judge Stephen L. Perk in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.
If Reich and O’Donnell succeed in getting the lawsuit tossed, the lawsuit against the CHP also will end because the agency only is being held potentially liable for the actions of its employees.
An attorney for the Catsouras family said CHP regulations were violated by the photo leak, and that the agency and dispatchers must be held accountable. Accident-scene photos are supposed to be used only for investigative purposes.
“To hide behind First Amendment rights is completely wrong,” said Tyler Offenhauser, of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara in Newport Beach. “There’s no public interest in these photos.”
Christos Catsouras said his family has spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and in hiring a company, Reputation Defender, to try to get Web site operators to take down the offensive images.
The photos of Nikki’s corpse have appeared on as many as 2,500 Web sites, according to court papers. Many of the sites specialize in the macabre and p*rnographic, as well as morbid curiosities.
Christos Catsouras said the messages his family continues to receive overwhelmingly are positive, although some people criticize the family for suing. Others say neither the CHP nor its employees – and, by extension, the public – should have to pay for a bad mistake made by an upset teenager.
Nikki took her father’s Porsche after he had taken away the keys to her car to discipline her for smoking in the house. She had never driven her father’s car before.
Public fascination with the case shows no signs of abating.
“Almost everybody feels sorry for the family, and they want to hold someone accountable for this,” Offenhauser said.
An e-mail to the Orange County Register captured the feelings of many readers and viewers:
“How did people lose their compassion for their fellow man?” wrote Helen Ferone, 73, of Lakewood, N.J. “How can someone make such a terrible joke out of another’s heartache?”
For see the “20/20” video, see http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3872556
Contact the writer: 949-454-7356 or ghardesty@ocregister.com
