LADERA RANCH – Ending a 4½-year court battle that rewrote state law, a Ladera Ranch family tormented by grisly accident photos of their daughter on the Internet has settled a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol for leaking images that went viral worldwide.

The CHP agreed to pay the family of Nicole “Nikki” Catsouras $2.375 million Friday after a judge ordered the two sides to talk ahead of a jury trial scheduled for March, CHP spokesman Fran Clader said.

The deal puts an end to an emotionally charged legal drama waged by Lesli and Christos Catsouras on behalf of their daughter, Nicole “Nikki” Catsouras.

Nikki’s horribly disfigured remains are permanently on display on hundreds of websites after an Oct. 31, 2006, crash that left the 18-year-old nearly decapitated.

On top of the grief of losing the eldest of their four daughters, Lesli and Christos Catsouras say they and their three surviving daughters have had to endure a never-ending nightmare of knowing that a click of a mouse can unknowingly bring up ghastly images of Nikki on their computer screen.

“The family was compensated for the emotional pain and suffering associated with the release of the photos,” Catsouras family attorney Keith Bremer said. “The CHP came to the table with significant funds in an effort to resolve this case and remove any chances of a monumental verdict.”

In a statement, Clader said: “No amount of money can compensate for the pain the Catsouras family has suffered. We have reached a resolution with the family to save substantial costs of continued litigation and a jury trial. It is our hope that with this legal issue resolved, the Catsouras family can receive some closure.”

HIGH-SPEED CRASH

Nikki was killed after she sped off in her father’s Porsche on the afternoon of Halloween 2006. It was a high-performance vehicle she had never driven before, according to her parents. Driving more than 100 mph, she lost control of the Porsche after she clipped another car on the 241 toll road in Lake Forest.

The Porsche then careened from northbound lanes across a grassy median into the southbound lanes before slamming into an unmanned toll booth.

Nikki died instantly. The driver of the other vehicle did not suffer significant injuries.

Within two weeks, images of Nikki’s body – slumped but still buckled into the front seat of the mangled black Porsche – began popping up on websites. The images were taken by CHP investigators on the scene and never were supposed to be publicly released.

The CHP later admitted that two dispatchers were responsible for the leak.

Compounding her parents’ anguish, authorities prevented Christos and Lesli Catsouras from viewing Nikki’s body after the accident – telling them she was unrecognizable and that seeing her remains would be too traumatic.

Soon, anyone with an Internet connection would be able to see the teenager’s body.

In addition to proliferating on the Internet, some of the photos – accompanied by taunting messages – were sent anonymously to Nikki’s parents.

‘CYBERBULLYING’ ISSUE

The Catsouras saga quickly became national and international news, prompting debates about “cyberbullying” and the rights of free speech vs. a family’s right to privacy as well as their rights to protect the legacy of a loved one.

Although the CHP took responsibility for leaking the accident-scene photos, the agency resisted talk of a settlement until Friday, Bremer said.

One of the dispatchers, Thomas O’Donnell, was reprimanded and disciplined but not fired.The other dispatcher, Aaron Reich, resigned for reasons he said were unrelated to the leaked pictures.

O’Donnell was released from the lawsuit during judicial proceedings, and Reich filed for bankruptcy, which meant the lawsuit against him was stayed.

In their initial claim against the CHP, the Catsouras family sought $20 million in damages.

The lawsuit rewrote law throughout California concerning the privacy rights of surviving family members when it comes to death images of a decedent.

Previously, under state law, surviving family members had no right of privacy “in the context of written media discussing, or pictorial media portraying, the life of a decedent,” according to court documents, but the Catsouras lawsuit has changed that.

On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Bauer ordered the mandatory settlement conference and an agreement was reached later that day, Lesli Catsouras said.

Although admitting that it was not appropriate for the images of Nikki’s dead body to be leaked onto the Internet, the CHP argued in court papers that its actions, in releasing the photos, were protected under a number of legal theories, including free speech and the Internet Protection Act.

SOME CRITICIZED LAWSUIT

Some critics of the Catsouras lawsuit said the photo leak was an unfortunate consequence of the actions of their daughter – she had not been drinking, but minute traces of cocaine were found in her system – and that the images serve a purpose into shocking drivers into being more careful.

In addition to compensating the Catsouras family for pain and suffering, the CHP, as part of the settlement, agreed to cooperate with the family going forward as Nikki’s survivors fight to get the offending photos off the Internet, Bremer said.

Although the family has spent thousands of dollars trying to get the photos permanently deleted from the Internet – an impossible task, they acknowledge – the effort will continue, they say.

“Public entities throughout the U.S. have now established protocols to ensure photos like these that serve no public benefit remain protected so that other families are not subjected to the taunting and bullying that still goes on even today,” Bremer said.

Lesli Catsouras said she, her husband and Nikki’s sisters “continue to remember and celebrate the great memories and the life we shared with Nikki.”

She said that she and her husband – a real estate agent – continue to avoid the Internet.

And she said that her surviving daughters – Danielle, 21; Christiana, 19; and Kira, 13 – still follow a rule in their household:

Never go online.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3764 or ghardesty@ocregister.com