Kurt Cobain death-scene photo release lawsuit thrown out
Release of photos would cause 'indescribable pain,' writes Frances Bean Cobain
A judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking the release of graphic photos and records from Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's death scene.
The Seattle Times reports that King County Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle dismissed Richard Lee's lawsuit over procedural missteps.
Lee insists Cobain was murdered, despite overwhelming evidence the rocker's 1994 death was a suicide, and Lee filed a public-records request seeking the photographs.
The judge ruled Lee had failed to give Seattle enough time to respond to his request and improperly served his lawsuit. Lee says he'll try another records request and sue again if that fails.
Lee – who runs a Seattle public access TV show – sued the city and the Seattle Police Department for the material he says will show Cobain didn't die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1994, The Seattle Times reported.
The city is arguing that the material should stay sealed for the sake of the family's privacy.
'Indescribable pain'
Love, and her daughter have written to the court about the physical and psychological impact that the release of the graphic photos would have on their lives.
"I have had to cope with many personal issues because of my father's death. Coping with even the possibility that those photographs could be made public is very difficult," Frances Bean Cobain wrote.
"Further sensationalizing it through the release of these pictures would cause us indescribable pain."
She wrote that she already faces harassment from fans "obsessed" with her father and fears that could get worse.
One fan broke into her California home and waited three days for her to return from vacation because he "believed my father's soul had entered my body," the 22-year-old wrote in her declaration.
According to their statements, neither woman has seen the photos of Cobain's body.
In 1995, Love got court permission to keep Cobain's suicide note, and another note used for handwriting analysis, out of the public eye.
Seattle police did release two previously unseen images from suicide scene last year. One showed a box containing drug paraphernalia, a spoon and what look like needles on the floor next to half a cigarette and sunglasses. The other showed the paraphernalia box closed, next to cash, a cigarette pack and a wallet that appeared to show Cobain's identification.
