LOS ANGELES –
Kobe Bryant was one of the most photogenic sports figures in Los Angeles, and pictures of him seen by millions around the world – smiling in victory, grimacing in pain – keep his memory alive.
But some photos of him should never be seen, says his widow, and she is demanding an unspecified million dollar compensation for snaps taken of the NBA star’s body that were circulated after he was involved in a helicopter crash her daughter and seven others in 2020.
Vanessa Bryant’s invasion of privacy trial against the Los Angeles County Sheriffs and Fire Department began Wednesday in a U.S. District Court just over a mile from Kobe Bryant, where he played most of his career with the Lakers. A jury was promptly convened on the case, and the opening statement was scheduled to begin in the afternoon.
Vanessa Bryant claims MPs did not take the photos for investigative purposes and shared them with firefighters responding to the scene of the accident. The lawsuit said a MP showed the photos to bar patrons and a firefighter showed them off-duty colleagues.
“Mrs. Bryant feels bad that the sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and members of the public stared at gratuitous images of her late husband and child,” the lawsuit reads. “She lives in fear that one day she or her children will be confronted with horrific images of her loved ones on the internet.”
Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and other parents and players were flying to a girls’ basketball tournament when their chartered helicopter crashed in fog in the Calabasas Hills west of Los Angeles. Federal security officials blamed pilot error for the wreck.
Vanessa Bryant has also sued the late pilot’s helicopter charter company and estate.
The county has argued that Bryant suffered emotional distress from the deaths, not the photos deleted by Sheriff Alex Villanueva. They said the photos have never been publicly distributed in the media, on the internet or otherwise, and that the lawsuit is speculative about any damage she may suffer.
A law prompted by the crash makes it a criminal offense for first responders to take unauthorized photographs of the deceased at the scene of an accident or crime.
The county has already agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve a similar case brought by two families whose loved ones died in the January 26, 2020 crash.
Vanessa Bryant has not settled her case, suggesting she is looking for more.
The litigation was ugly at times.
When the county requested a psychiatric evaluation of Bryant to determine if she was suffering from emotional distress as a result of the photos, her attorneys criticized the “scorched earth discovery tactic” used to harass her and other victims’ family members to file their lawsuits give up.
The county responded by saying they were ok with Bryant’s losses but dismissed her case as a “money heist.”