Originally posted by Baron152:
From the Fort Bend Herald, February 13, 2007,
"Cavender, 64, faces a count of misuse of official information in Wharton County for taking pictures of an automobile accident scene on Jan. 19 and selling those photos to several newspapers. That accident claimed the life of Needville ISD Police Chief Ernest Mendoza.
The Texas Department of Public Safety contends Cavender abused his position as the Wharton VFD's photographer - which arguably grants him special access to emergency scenes - to take photos for non-official purposes.
Ron Sanders, editor of the Wharton Journal-Spectator, said the charge against Cavender amounts to "nothing other than harassment."
Misuse of official information, a third-degree felony indictment, carries with it a punishment range from probation to 10 years in prison and the potential for a fine up to $10,000."
Its very simple, if a crime scene photographer, who is allowed special access to a crime scene to process it, then sold those photos, he/she would face the same charges. The accusation is that he used his credentials to gain access to a crime scene (Cop or not) and then sold the pics. This gives the defense and opening to argue that the scene was contaminated and maybe the murderer of a human being (Cop or not), might go free. Now if it is brought up they (the prosecutors) have an arguement to place in front of a jury so they will know the crime scene was indeed secure to outside persons and that he misused his position.
Whether or not they can prove it is what the court system is all about. |
Well summed up. Putting the criminal aspect aside for a moment, I believe the courts have backed the idea that a photographer working "on the job" cannot claim the profits if the photograph becomes worth something. I think back to the famous forest fire picture with the deer drinking out of the river taken by a firefighter while fighting the blaze. He lost the court battle (if I recall correctly) to keep the substantial profits from the picture. For this case, at the least, I would think the fire department could ask for the profits from the sale of the picture.
Message edited by author 2007-02-15 19:14:35.
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