Vanessa Bryant’s lawyer says first responders “poured salt in an open wound and rubbed it in” by photographing and sharing photos of her husband and daughter’s bodies.
The widow of basketballer Kobe Bryant is suing the LA County sheriff’s department over an invasion of privacy, saying she fears that she or her surviving children could be exposed to the pictures.
The decorated NBA player, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people died in a horrific helicopter crash in January 2020 while traveling to a basketball tournament.
Here’s a recap of what’s happened so far.
Why is Vanessa Bryant suing?
Ms Bryant filed the lawsuit over photographs, taken by first responders on their mobile phones, of the crash site including her husband and daughter’s bodies after they died.
She alleges the pictures were circulated among firefighters and off-duty colleagues, and that one deputy showed them to people at a bar.
The lawsuit filed by Ms Bryant says she “feels ill at the thought that sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, and members of the public have gawked at gratuitous images of her deceased husband and child.”
“She lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online,” the lawsuit says.
Ms Bryant is seeking undisclosed damage.
What happened in court?
Ms Bryant’s lawyer, Luis Li, told the jury that the photographs taken at the crash site by a deputy and a fire captain had no official or investigative purpose, and that they were viewed “for a laugh.”
The jury was shown CCTV footage of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy drinking at a bar showing the photos to a bartender, and alleged that the photos had been shown around as many as 30 people.
“They were shared repeatedly with people who had absolutely no reason to receive them,” Mr Li told the court.
“They [the county] poured salt in an open wound and rubbed it in.”
A lawyer for the county defended the taking of the photos as an “essential” tool for first-responders and said that showing the bartender was “a moment of weakness.”
The defense lawyers told jurors that the fact that the pictures have not gone public showed that leaders in the sheriff’s and fire department did their jobs.
“They’re not online. They’re not in the media. They’ve never even been seen by the plaintiffs themselves,” she said.
“That is not an accident. That is a function of how diligent they were.”
But Mr Li said there’s no guarantee that the photos won’t be leaked in the future.
He said Ms Bryant “will be haunted by what they did forever”, and fears that her surviving children may see them.
What’s next?
The trial is expected to run for more than a week.
Another plaintiff in the case is Chris Chester, whose wife Sara and daughter Payton were also killed in the crash.
Los Angeles County officials have previously argued that Ms Bryant’s “severe and emotional and mental injuries” were caused by the crash, not the pictures, and dismissed the case as a “money grab.”
The county already agreed to pay $US2.5 million to settle a similar case brought by two families of victims of the crash.
Ms Bryant and Mr Chester declined to settle as part of that case.
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