| "SAKI" SUES PEOPLE MAGAZINE April 29, 2003 A Fresno woman is suing People magazine because it published a photo of Scott Peterson and Amber Frey with a picture of the woman visible on a wall in the background. Sherina Vincent sold the photo and three others to People. She is charging breach of contract because her image was to be removed. "My client is very distraught that her picture has appeared in a national magazine with Scott Peterson," said Michele Engnath, Vincent's lawyer. Vincent also alleges that the magazine paid her only $5,000 of an agreed $15,000, and editors have indicated they will not pay the rest. Amber Frey, speaking publicly for the first time since attending a news conference in Modesto in January, said Friday that she was livid at her former friend. "That's appalling that she's doing this," Frey said. "She doesn't want her picture in the magazine, but it's OK that she sells the photos and profits off me, Laci Peterson and her baby?" Frey said Vincent, who is otherwise known as Saki, also sold photos to the National Enquirer, and she expects the tabloid will publish them next week. People photo editor Debbie Bondulic in New York referred calls to the company's public relations department. A spokesman declined to talk about the case. "We intend to litigate it vigorously, but we're not going to go into the specifics of it," said Peter Costiglio, who works for Time Inc., which owns People. The photos appear in the May 5 edition of People that landed on newsstands Friday. Vincent's lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Fresno. Engnath sought a judge's order to prevent People from distributing the issue, but the request was denied. Vincent is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages. She could not be reached for comment. The magazine used two photos of Amber Frey and Scott Peterson. One photo shows the couple smiling from the front seats of a vehicle. The other picture shows them embracing in front of a Christmas tree. In the second photo, on a wall behind the couple, is a small picture of Sherina Vincent. The photos were taken in December. Frey said the pictures were taken before a winter formal and that Vincent was the one who took the pictures. Frey said she believes that the FBI will subpoena Vincent as part of their investigation. "She didn't look at the repercussions of selling the photos," Frey said. Vincent, 31, sold the photos to People under a contract dated March 6. The contract was filed as part of the lawsuit. One of the conditions of the contract is that People "shall remove from any photograph the background photographs of photographer and her friends." "How would you like your picture appearing with Scott Peterson?" Engnath asked. The contract also stated that Vincent would be paid $5,000 when the magazine received the photos and another $10,000 when it published them. Engnath said the company won't pay Vincent the final $10,000 because one of the four photos appeared on Fox News and in the New York Post before the magazine hit the stands. She said she did not know how the newspaper or television network obtained the photo. "My client gave Amber one copy," Engnath said. "We believe that Amber gave that one copy to the police." Engnath's law partner, Richard Ryan, said: "Somebody somewhere made extra copies." Vincent discovered earlier this week that her image in the photograph had not been removed or obscured when it was used to plug the magazine on the TV show "Entertainment Tonight," Engnath said. "If you look at the picture in the People that came out today, there she is." HOME INDEX SCOTT LACI AMBER EVIDENCE-NEWS MAGAZINES-JAN-JUNE MAGAZINES-JULY-PRESENT ALIBI-WITNESS LIST |
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