Barbara Leonard reports:
A widow claims that state police released her husband’s suicide note the media, along with private letters he left for the family. The widow and her children sued New York State Police Officer Steven Nutting and several Officer Does on constitutional claims in Federal Court.
On the night in May 2008 when Garry Veeder committed suicide, his wife, Donna, says she found a notebook containing his final messages.
She claims that Nutting, investigating for the state police, took the private documents as evidence without letting her read the note addressed to her.
“Defendant Nutter stated, ‘I can do anything I want, lady, this is a crime scene until I say otherwise,'” according to the complaint.
By the next day, Donna Veeder says, her doctor had diagnosed her with “dangerously elevated blood pressure,” and she learned that her late husband’s notes had been published on the Internet and other media sources.
Read more on Courthouse News. A copy of the complaint can be found here. Keep in mind that these are just allegations and that the defendant has not yet told his side of the story.