Here’s the story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As we all remember, Meredith Emerson was abducted in January 2008. Her body was found in a north Georgia forest, and Gary Michael Hilton was convicted of her murder. Hilton has also been named as a suspect in the deaths of a Henderson County couple.
Story here:
The family of slain hiker Meredith Emerson on Wednesday obtained a judge’s order barring release of grisly crime-scene photos depicting the Buford woman’s nude and decapitated body.
After a brief hearing, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Dan Coursey said the photos’ release to Hustler Magazine or others could cause “irreparable harm” to Emerson’s family. The judge also said that his temporary restraining order will remain in effect at least until he holds another hearing on the matter.
Coursey issued his ruling shortly before the House Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved the “Meredith Emerson Privacy Act,” which would prevent the most gruesome crime scene photos from being released through the state’s public disclosure law. House Bill 1322 would add an exemption for video and photographs of a crime scene that depict graphic images of sexual organs or the dismemberment of a crime victim. Only a judge would be able to order such information released.
Emerson’s family filed suit on Tuesday against the GBI, which possesses the photos, after a writer for Hustler filed an Open Records Act request for them. The GBI already had denied the request, but Hustler and its publisher, Larry Flynt, said they disagreed with that decision and were exploring legal options.