Opinion ID: 796898
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Project cancelled but offending photography continues

Text: 20 Despite Parrott's deposition testimony that the project was cancelled, the Coroner's Office staff continued to permit Condon access to the Morgue and to the bodies housed there through 2000 and into January of 2001. Photographs later discovered in Condon's studio reveal that he had observed, and often arranged with props, numerous bodies at the Morgue during that time. Condon photographed bodies both in the autopsy suite and in the cooler. The bodies photographed included those on whom autopsies had been performed by Pfalzgraf, Tobias, and Utz. Although the employee defendants assert that Condon visited the Morgue no more than five times in all, the district court found that Chesher had highlighted instances which reasonably could lead one to find that Condon frequented the morgue at least eleven times. During the time frame in question, 532 bodies were housed at the Morgue. 21 Several examples serve to illustrate the nature of the photographs at issue. One involved the body of John Brady, whose autopsy was performed by Pfalzgraf. Brady was shown on the autopsy table with props that included a dollhouse ladder placed against his open skull. Photographs of Thomas Senteney, whose autopsy was performed by Utz, depict his body with a cloth scarf placed over his eyes and an egg displayed nearby. Utz also performed the autopsy of Christina Folchi, who was photographed with sheet music placed on her body and a snail near her groin area as well as other items pressed into her hand and mouth. The photographs indicate Condon's presence at these and other autopsies. Autopsy view sheets for the photographed subjects, however, do not reflect his presence. According to Chesher, several of the offending photographs depict the hands of Morgue employees as they were performing the autopsies. 22 Chesher alleges that although Condon showed both Tobias and Utz samples of the offending photographs during this time, they continued to permit Condon to visit the Morgue and take photographs. In Tobias's case, he acknowledged that Condon showed him some of the offending propped photographs, including the Brady photo, first in September of 2000 and then again in January of 2001. According to Tobias, he trusted Condon to obtain proper authorization from Parrott for the taking of such photographs. 23 Tobias kept in personal contact with Condon and met with him two or three more times, including one event at a local bar. On December 6, 2000, Tobias met with Condon during Senteney's autopsy, but during the course of the meeting left [Condon] alone in the morgue with the body. Condon used the opportunity to take additional offending photographs, which Tobias claims was without his knowledge. When Condon again showed Tobias some of the offending photographs in January of 2001, Tobias instructed Condon to show his pictures to Utz and get permission before continuing his project. Tobias said that Condon complied and showed some of his propped photographs and an art book to Utz, to which Utz allegedly responded [o]h, that's kind of cool. 24 Utz similarly testified in his deposition that, sometime in early January of 2001, he saw several of Condon's propped photographs, including an autopsy photograph showing Utz's hands. One of the propped photographs that Condon showed to Utz was that of Brady with the dollhouse ladder leaning against his open skull. 25 In addition to permitting Condon to take photographs at the Morgue, Tobias began using Condon's studio for printing some of his own offending photographs, including several from the death scene of a woman named Toby Malakoff. Tobias used a Morgue camera to take photographs of her body first as he found it at the scene, and then after he had turned the body over and lifted her shirt to reveal her breasts. Parrott testified in his deposition that Tobias's photographs shouldn't have been at a commercial photographer's studio such as Condon's. He added that Tobias's photographs of Malakoff could be interpreted as souvenirs or, you know, an effort at art and that he was not aware of any forensic purpose served by them. Tobias, on the other hand, maintains that the photographs were forensically necessary and that he developed them at Condon's studio because he believed Condon to be trusted by the Coroner's Office. 26