Albany, NY – An emergency worker who photographed a woman found beaten and strangled and later posted the image on his Facebook page has led Staten Island lawmakers to propose making it a felony for others to do the same.
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Democratic and Republican legislators, joined by the mother of victim Caroline Wimmer, said Wednesday the posting compounded the pain and horror. They said that shouldn’t happen to anyone else, and this should be a model for laws around the country. Convictions would mean one to four years in jail.
“What if it was your daughter?“ Marti Wimmer said. “It could be a fire. It could be a car accident.“
Bills introduced in the Senate and Assembly would make it a crime for public servants on duty to take unauthorized pictures or videos of crime scenes and circulate them.
Mark Musarella responded to the emergency call after the 26-year-old Wimmer’s body was found in her apartment. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty in December to misdemeanor official misconduct and disorderly conduct, a violation. The 48-year-old retired New York Police Department detective has also given up his emergency medical technician license, authorities said.
Edward Pavia, Musarella’s lawyer, said Wednesday the posting was unintentional and his client quickly took it down. He’s sorry for the pain he caused the family, Pavia said.
State Sen. Diane Savino said Musarella took the picture of Caroline Wimmer with his cellphone and was later fired. “It had been posted on Facebook for personal entertainment,“ she said.
The photograph was on his Web page for a day or two, and prosecutors found no other cases where emergency personnel had posted images from crime scenes, said Peter Spencer, spokesman for Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan.
Calvin Lawson, 30, was convicted in May of second-degree murder for beating and strangling Wimmer during an argument and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Her parents found her body.
Once Musarella finishes his community service, he can vacate his misdemeanor guilty plea and be sentenced to a violation, essentially clearing his criminal record, according to the district attorney’s office.
I always found it offensive when hatzolah/shomrim members post photos or otherwise provide intimate details of accidents and tragedies.
Why do you need a law for this?
Aside from the manners and common sense issues, shouldn’t a public employee or any employee be busy doing his job and only his job full time while on the clock?
I dont know where you live, but my hubby is in hatzalah and he is forbidden to discuss even with me any details about his call. Sometimes i will know which home he is cuz i hear the add. on the radio but I dont even ask him cuz i know he’s forbidden to release any info.
Many times close friends of mine come and thank me for my husband coming, etc… and I tell them i have no clue as to what they are talking about. If they wish they can tell me and if not it’s their right. We all need to respect that.
It was very inappropriate when they aired pix of princess Diana dying….