An Infamous Mugshot, a Lawsuit, and a Life Turned Around

Patrick Tribett was once the subject of Internet ridicule. In 2005, Tribett was arrested in Ohio after huffing paint and his mugshot showing the bottom half of his face covered in gold paint quickly spread across the interwebs.

I've gratuitously reposted the photo here for you. T-shirts featuring Tribett's image are for sale online, as well, referencing another popular web forward - a ridiculous news clip about a leprechaun sighting in Alabama.

But there's more to the story. Tribett is now clean, and the Wheeling, WV, Intelligencer reports that he has hired an attorney and is preparing to sue the retailers and manufacturers of merchandise featuring his image. Some pulled the products after Tribett's lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter.

The case raises some interesting legal questions over who owns mugshots and the rights to commercialize one's image. I believe the mugshot itself is in the public domain, but this analysis from Abovethelaw of a separate case involving Lindsay Lohan's mugshot points out that 19 states have laws against the unauthorized use of one's image for commercial gain.

Putting the lawsuit aside for a moment, however, we see a true bright side to this story. Tribett is doing well, a run-in with a drug court helped to turn him around, and a great story in the Wheeling Intelligencer gives us a portrait of him as a real person -- not just an Internet punchline.

Tribett has been sober for eight weeks and he's taking life day-by-day. An Intelligencer article this week by Gabe Wells gives us a picture of a man turning his life around. A recent paint-huffing arrest sent Tribett through a local drug court, which connected him with a treatment program.

Ohio Valley Recovery Inc. Executive Director Scott Pinter said he did not know Tribett until he began spending time at the Unity Center. He said that famous mugshot of Tribett is not an accurate representation of the man he is.

"After seeing the picture, I thought he was of poor mental health," Pinter said. "He really changed the way I thought about him before I met him. (The mugshot) strips of you of thinking of him outside of dereliction.

"He has us laughing constantly, and he is cheerful, smart and pleasant," Pinter added. "The people around him are proud of him. He's a special person."

I don't know what will come of the lawsuit, and the positive turn of this story will never rival the pageviews of Tribett's mug shot. But thanks to a local reporter in Wheeling, West Virginia, we now know the story of Patrick Tribett and we can root for his recovery.