LADEA Ranch voltage from a 4½-year-old court court, which rewrites the Studies Act, has plagued a Ladada Ranch family by creepy accident photos of their daughter on the internet, decided a lawsuit against California Highway Patrol for leaking images that were all viral, allViral all over the world.
CHP agreed to payNicole family "Nikki" Catsouras$ 2,375 million on Friday after a judge ordered the two pages to speak for a jury right of jury for March, said CHP spokesperson Fran Clader.
The deal ends an emotional legal drama led by Lesli and Christos Catsouras on behalf of their daughter, Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras.
The terribly crazy remains of Nikki appear permanently at hundreds of locations after a October 31, 2006, after which the 18-year-old almost beheaded.
In addition to losing the elderly of their four daughters, Lesli and Christos Catsouras say that they and their three remaining daughters have had to endure an endless nightmare to know that a click of a mouse unconsciously on and then a scary imagesFrom Nikkipå their computer can cause screen.
"The family was compensated for the emotional pain and the suffering associated with the release of the images," said Catsoura's family lawyer Keith Bremer.judgement."
In a statement, Clader said: “No amount can compensate for the pain that the Catsouras family has suffered.With this legal question, some closure can receive. "
High -lying casualty
Nikki was killed after she left her father's Porsch in the afternoon in Halloween 2006.Then she cut another 241 toll car in Lake Forest.
Porsche then used northern lanes over a grassy median in the southern lanes before he threw in an unmanned bombing.
Nikki died immediately.The driver of the other vehicle has not suffered significant damage.
Within two weeks, photos of Nikki's body - the fall, but still tense in the front seat of the confused black Porsche - started in locations.
CHP later admitted that two senders were responsible for the Lek.
Connected the fear of her parents prevented authorities of Christos and Lesli Catsouras to see Nikki's body after the accident - and told them she was not recognizable and that seeing her leftovers would be too traumatic.
Soon everyone with an internet connection could see the body of the teenager.
In addition to distributing on the internet, some images - accompanied by tight messages - were sent anonymously to Nikki's parents.
'Cybermobbing' problem
The Catsouras -Saga soon became national and international news, which caused debates about "cyberbullying" and the rights to freedom of expression against the right of a family to privacy, as well as their rights to protect the inheritance of a loved one.
Although CPH took responsibility for placing photos against accident, opposite the desk that spoke about a solution until Friday, Bremer said.
One of the senders, Thomas O'Donnell, was punished and disciplined, but not fired. The other sender, Aaron Reich, withdrew for reasons that, according to him, was not related to the leaked photos.
O'Donnell was released during a court case and Reich presented bankruptcy, which meant that the trial was against him.
In their original claim to CHP, the Catsouras family was looking for $ 20 million in compensation.
The process rewrite the law throughout California on privacy rights of the survival of family members when it comes to death photos of a deceased person.
Earlier, according to the State Act, the surviving family members had no right to privacy "in written media who discussed or pictorial media who portray the life of a deceased", according to judicial documents, but the Catsoura case changed it.
On Friday, the judge Ronald Bauer of the Orange County Superior Court ordered the compulsory mediation conference and a deal was reached later that day, Lesli Catsouras said.
Although the concession that it was not appropriate for the images of Nikki's dead body to be leaked on the internet, CHP argued in judicial articles that release its actions by the images, protected under a number of legal theories, including freedom of expressionAnd right to right internet protection.
Some criticized the process
Some critics of the Catsoura case said that the photo leak was an unhappy consequence of their daughter's actions - she had not drunk, but small traces of cocaine were found in her system - and that the images serve a purpose for shocking driversWhen causing careful care.
In addition to compensating the Catsouras family of pain and suffering, CHP accepted as part of the settlement to collaborate with the family in the future when Nikki's survivors have difficulty getting the insulting photos of the internet, Bremer said.
Although the family has spent thousands of dollars to permanently remove the images from the internet - an impossible task, they acknowledge - the effort will continue, they say.
"Public units in the United States have now established protocols to ensure that such photos that do not earn public benefits remain protected so that other families are not exposed to spotted and bullying that is still underway," said Bremer.
Lesli Catsouras said that she, her husband and Nikki's sisters "The great memories and the life we shared with Nikki continue to remember and celebrate."
She said she and her husband - a broker - continue to avoid the internet.
And she said her surviving daughters - Danielle, 21;
Never go online.
Please contact the author:714-704-3764 ofghardesty@ocregister.com
