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More mediation Paper seeks to modify agreement on Earnhardt photos
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Lawyers for the Orlando Sentinel tried Thursday to modify an agreement they reached last week with Dale Earnhardt's widow over access to his autopsy photos. Sentinel attorneys and lawyers for Teresa Earnhardt met for a second round of talks less than a week after they reached a deal that limits access to the photos, which are public record under Florida law. The mediation will let the newspaper address its concerns about a Daytona International Speedway doctor having viewed the photos before they were sealed, Sentinel lawyers said. Dr. Steve Bohannon, a NASCAR medical expert, looked at the photos three days after Earnhardt's fatal wreck at the Daytona 500 Feb. 18. The next day, a Volusia County judge temporarily sealed them from public viewing at the request of Mrs. Earnhardt. Earnhardt's attorneys dispute whether the agreement can be changed. The Sentinel had tried to have its own medical expert review the images for an investigation into NASCAR safety. The initial agreement called for an independent medical expert to look at the photos, then submit a report to the newspaper and the Earnhardt family on the cause of death and an explanation of certain head injuries. The photos then would have been permanently sealed as requested by Mrs. Earnhardt. Sentinel executives had said they had no intention of publishing the photos. But Mrs. Earnhardt's attorneys argued that other news organizations would be able to have access to the photos if the Sentinel was granted permission. A student newspaper at the University of Florida, the Independent Florida Alligator, and a Web site are pursuing their own cases to gain access to the photos and aren't part of the agreement. Bohannon, who was at the track when Earnhardt crashed and rode in the ambulance that took the driver to a hospital, said at a NASCAR news conference in North Carolina five days later that Earnhardt might have survived if his lap belt had not broken.
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