It is now against the law in Massachusetts for first responders to take unauthorized photographs of crime scenes.
More than a decade after Amanda Plasse was brutally stabbed to death in her Chicopee apartment and police officers took pictures of her bloody lifeless body with their cellphones, later sharing the photos with others, a bill crafted to respond to their callous actions has become law.
Michelle Penna, the mother of Plasse, lobbied on Beacon Hill for years to get the legislation approved.
“We’re related, we’re so happy, so relieved,” Penna said after the bill passed.
The bill cleared the House and Senate last week during the hectic 22-hour marathon final formal session of the year. Governor Charlie Baker signed it into law on August 4th, according to the Republican governor’s office.
It is now a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine for a first responder to take and share unauthorized photographs of a crime scene.
“You know you could be on the internet one day and up pops an image of your child laying in a pool of blood,” Penna said. “Once those picture are out there, they’re out there and you cannot take them back.”
Penna said the law specifically exempts police body-worn cameras and photographs taken for evidentiary purposes.
“Body cameras should never be turned off,” Penna said. “That wasn’t the issue. The issue was personal cellphones that had nothing to do with taking photos of the crime scene, nothing to do in their police capacity, and not only taking them but sharing them.”
Plasse was 20 when she was murdered on August 26, 2011.
It was nearly two years later when it was revealed that two Chicopee police officers, who had been assigned to guard the door to Plasse’s apartment until detectives arrived took photographs with their personal cellphones. The pictures were shared with other police officers and with coaches at a youth football game.
The officers were reprimanded and had to work some shifts without being paid, according to published reports. Mark Mastroianni, the U.S. District Court judge, who was Hampden District Attorney at the time, investigated the officer’s actions, which he described as “inappropriate, unprofessional and a great indignity to the victim and her family.” He concluded, however, they could not be prosecuted.
Plasse’s family sued the city of Chicopee and eventually agreed to settle the case for $100,000.
The legislation, dubbed “Amanda’s Law” was first introduced in 2013 by State Rep. Joe Wagner, who refiled it each time the bill failed to make it across the finish line by the end of the session. In an interview with WWLP-TV, the Chicopee Democrat credited Plasse’s family for their tireless advocacy.
“From that tragedy will come a good piece of law that will help other families who have family members who are victims of serious crimes,” Wagner said.
The murder of Amanda Plasse went unsolved until detectives re-reviewing potential evidence came across the name “Dennis” written on a whiteboard in her apartment. They cross checked phone records and found Dennis Rosa-Roman. He had a criminal record for breaking and entering. In 2016, Rosa-Roman was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
