|
 Independent journalist Richard Lee sued the city and its
police department to try to force the release of the pictures
taken by law-enforcement officials after Cobain killed himself
in 1994, a spokesman for Seattle attorney Pete Holmes said.
The photos show his entire body and the damage to his head from
a shotgun blast, according to a declaration filed last week by
Cobain's wife, the musician Courtney Love, seeking to block the
release.
Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle sided with the city after a
roughly 40-minute hearing, ruling Lee violated legal procedures
by failing to properly serve the city with his lawsuit, said the
spokesman, John Schochet.
Lee also filed his lawsuit before the city responded to his
public-records request for the images, Schochet said.
Cobain, who rose to fame in 1991 leading Nirvana and popularized
the grunge rock movement, was 27 when he shot himself with a
shotgun at his Seattle home on April 5, 1994. His body was not
found for three days.
Last year police said they found rolls of undeveloped film while
preparing for renewed media attention ahead of the 20th
anniversary of Cobain's suicide.
Lee, who could not be reached for comment on Friday, has
produced a public-access television show called "Kurt Cobain Was
Murdered," according to a website cataloging the show.
[to top of second column] |
Schochet said the journalist apparently believes the photos will
prove the rocker did not take his own life.
The city said Lee's request for the graphic photos are exempt from
public-records disclosure laws.
Love wrote in her declaration that she has never seen the photos.
"Certainly, public disclosure would reopen all my old wounds, and
cause me and my family permanent, indeed, endless and needless, pain
and suffering, and would be a gross violation of our privacy
interests," Love wrote.
The couple's daughter, Frances Cobain, echoed those sentiments and
wrote separately that the release of the photos would put her in
danger, describing how she has received death threats and privacy
invasions from people obsessed with her late father.
"Releasing these photographs into the public domain would encourage
more disturbed stalkers and fanatical threats," she wrote.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Mohammad
Zargham)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
