Porsche Girl Nikki Catsouras Car Accident Photo Controversy

Nikki Catsouras was killed in a car accident on Halloween 2006 while driving her father’s Porsche. The release of photos from the accident has landed the California Highway Patrol in serious trouble.Nikki Catsouras was killed tragically in a terrible car accident when she was 18 years old. “20/20″ first reported on the controversy surrounding the release of her accident photos on December 7, 2007.Subsequently they included an update to their story here and announced that the story will air again on “Primetime: The Outsiders” on July 1, 2008.

Shortly after their 18-year-old daughter died in a car accident, Christos and Lesli Catsouras began receiving anonymous emails and text messages containing photographs of the accident. The graphic photos depicted Nikki’s decapitated body still strapped inside her father’s Porsche. Someone even set up a fake MySpace page pretending to be a tribute, but posted the photos instead.The pictures were taken by the California Highway Patrol and leaked onto the internet. Since then, Nikki’s family has lived in fear that the pictures will be forced on them over email, on websites, and even being taped to Danielle’s (Nikki’s 16-year-old sister) locker.Now the Catsouras’ are suing, and a judge in California has ruled the lawsuit can move forward. The family is seeking $20 million in damages.

Nikki’s mom has said of the photos,“I think we’re all learning that how the Internet works. Once something is out there, it never can be taken back. The Internet is our modern-day Tree of Knowledge – for good and for evil.”The family has also taken matters into their own hands, hiring Michael Fertik of Reputation Defender to get the images removed from the internet. The 28-year-old Harvard Law graduate describes himself as a fighter for “truth, justice and the American freakin’ way”. Fertik has succeeded in removing the photos from about 300 websites, although the photos still exist on at least 100 more.