| Amber Frey Files Lawsuit Over Nude Photos October 22, 2003 - FULL STORY The former girlfriend of murder suspect Scott Peterson has filed a $6 million lawsuit against a pornography broker for posting nude and seminude photos of her on his Web site, according to the Modesto Bee. Amber Frey, a 28-year-old Fresno massage therapist, is a potential key witness against the 30-year-old Modesto fertilizer salesman, who is accused of murdering his wife and son. The newspaper reports that Frey, in a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses David Hans Schmidt of posting photos of her on his pay-for-use Web site without her permission. Schmidt's Arizona-based public relations and production company, which carries his name, also is named in the lawsuit, which alleges misappropriation of Frey's name and likeness, unlawful or misleading advertising, invasion of privacy, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The pictures were taken in 1999 at Emerald Photography in Clovis for a "test shoot," according to the lawsuit. Frey was 24 at the time. Schmidt has said he purchased the photos from the photographer earlier this year and attempted to sell them to Larry Flynt for publication in the pornographic magazine Hustler. Schmidt posted them on his Web site in September. At no time did Frey "license or authorize the use of her photographs by any defendant or any other person," the lawsuit states. Frey is seeking to have a court forbid the sale or use of the photographs and require all negatives, reproductions and copies confiscated and destroyed. Schmidt could not be reached for comment by the Modesto Bee on Tuesday. In earlier interviews he has said he had a legally binding model release for the photos. "I hope she sues," Schmidt said in September. Frey's attorneys contend that the purported model release is a "data sheet" that indicated Frey "had no tattoos, no body piercings, likes horses and would pose nude." "Nothing on the data sheet discussed or described any agreement between the parties, nor did it make any reference to the actual taking of photographs or rights to photographs," the lawsuit reads. K. Arianne Jordan, an attorney with the Los Angeles law firm that filed the lawsuit Monday and said it was filed as quickly as possible after the photos were posted online. Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Frey as a witness in Peterson's murder case, said she is not handling the lawsuit, because she is a potential witness. In a June 5 letter to Allred's law firm, Schmidt offered to destroy the photographs if Frey would agree to allow him to broker a deal for her involving new nude photographs, according to the lawsuit. In one of the most dramatic moments in the Laci Peterson case, Amber Frey walked into a press conference in late January and revealed her brief affair with Scott. She said at the time she met Scott, she had been told he was not married. Frey has been cooperating with Modesto police since early in the investigation and is not a suspect in the case. RELATED STORY HOME INDEX LACI TRIAL AMBER SCOTT ALIBI-WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE-NEWS INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS WIRETAPS |
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