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Be Careful What You Email To Friends, Especially If You Are A CHP Officer
Posted by: David Ring
February 03, 2010
A California Court of Appeal handed down a powerful opinion on January 29, 2010 allowing the parents of Nikki Catsouras to continue with their lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and two of its officers who apparently emailed to friends incredibly gruesome photos from the auto crash that killed Nikki. No surprise that those photos then went "viral," ending up on all sorts of websites. But that wasn't the worst of it. Some very demented people then began emailing and texting the photos to the Catsouras family members, who unwittingly opened the emails only to be horrified by what they then saw.
It all started in 2006 when 18-year old Nikki took her dad's Porsche without his permission. As she sped down an Orange County toll road, she lost control of the Porsche, clipped another car, crossed the center median and violently crashed into the concrete toll booth barrier. Nikki was instantly killed. CHP investigated and took photos of the Porsche with Nikki still in it. The photos are nothing short of horrific. Nikki was basically decapitated. Later, the CHP officers made the unwise decision to email the photos to friends.
The Catsouras' family sued the CHP, claiming the officers had no legitimate business purpose for emailing the photos. The officers violated the family's right to privacy and intentionally or unreasonably caused the family severe emotional distress by doing so, it was alleged. It was foreseeable the photos would end up in the public arena and find their way back to the family. The trial court found the officers' conduct outrageous, but dismissed the lawsuit because it thought the CHP had immunity under the law. The Court of Appeal disagreed, holding that the CHP and its officers could be sued under these theories of recovery.
The case now returns to the trial court for more proceedings.
All one has to do is google "Nikki Catsouras" to see the photos. As hard as the family tried to supress every web site that posted the photos, it proved impossible to do so. The photos will be a constant reminder of the family's worst day ever. All thanks to two CHP officers who hit "send" on an email without thinking through the ramifications of what could happen in our web-obsessed society.
The Court of Appeal decision is linked below.
Attachments:
Catsourasv.CHP.pdf
