Nikki Catsouras crash photos lawsuit - update

Story of graphic crash photos again in spotlight
Appellate court ruling expected soon on case involving grisly photos leaked onto Internet.
By GREG HARDESTY
The Orange County Register

LADERA RANCH – The tragic story of car-crash victim Nikki Catsouras went national again this week as her family awaits a legal ruling on a case that touches on privacy, harassment and image control in cyberspace.

Newsweek magazine, in its May 4 newsstand issue, documents the saga of how leaked images of Nikki's lifeless body have created a legal and emotional nightmare for her Ladera Ranch family.

As first reported in The Orange County Register, the Catsouras family sued the California Highway Patrol after images of Nikki's body began circulating on the Internet soon after a horrific car crash on Halloween Day in 2006.

Nikki, 18, had taken her father's Porsche without permission and, moving at speeds estimated at 100 mph, was killed when she lost control of the sports car and slammed into a concrete toll booth on the 241 toll road in Lake Forest.

Soon, nine images of her nearly decapitated body began appearing on Web sites and in e-mails sent anonymously to her family. Some who posted Web site comments or sent e-mails taunted the family; parents Lesli and Christos and three younger sisters.

The CHP later apologized for the leak, blaming it on two employees. Accident-scene photos are routinely used for investigative purposes but legally are not supposed to be disseminated publicly.

The Catsouras family and their attorneys, Keith Bremer and Tyler Offenhauser, are awaiting an appellate court ruling that might keep the lawsuit alive in civil court.

An Orange County Superior Court judge previously dismissed the lawsuit – for negligence, privacy invasion and infliction of emotional harm, among other charges – saying Nikki's rights to privacy did not extend to her grieving family.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana has until June 1 to decide whether to send the case back to be heard for trial or keep it dismissed. Bremer said he is hopeful the Catsouras family will prevail.

"We continue to remain optimistic," Bremer said. "The 4th District will see it as we see it as a duty to protect the surviving family."

Attorney Jon Schlueter, who represents Aaron Reich, one of the two CHP employees named in the lawsuit, said: "This is a time for the lawyers to be quiet and wait for the (appellate court) to make its ruling."

Contact the writer: 949-454-7356 or ghardesty@ocregister.com