Jury awards Vanessa Bryant $16M in damages in crash photos lawsuit

• A jury of nine awarded $16 million in damages to Vanessa Bryant, widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, in a lawsuit involving the leak of crash site photos.
• Los Angeles County employees photographed and distributed graphic images of human remains.
• The jury agreed that the plaintiffs suffered an invasion of privacy and undue emotional distress, resulting in damages.

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of NBA icon Kobe Bryant, was awarded $16 million in damages caused by first responders who photographed and distributed images of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

The lawsuit was filed against Los Angeles County by Vanessa Bryant and co-plaintiff Chris Chester, who lost his wife, Sarah, and their 13-year-old daughter Payton, in the accident that claimed nine lives.

Heavy fog and low visibility led to the crash of the helicopter, which was heading from Orange County to Gianna’s basketball game at Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.

According to the plaintiffs’ legal teams, county employees, deputies, and firefighters took graphic images of human remains, including those of their loved ones, as “souvenirs” and shared them with colleagues and civilians. They argued that it was an invasion of privacy that resulted in undue emotional distress.

For two weeks, Bryant had to endure emotional testimony and wipe away tears. She had to leave the courtroom at times when painful or graphic evidence was introduced.

On Friday, Bryant went on the stand for over three hours. She sobbed as she described the anguish she felt upon learning that the images were leaked by first responders. She stated, “I felt like I wanted to run down the block and scream. I can’t escape my body. I can’t escape what I feel.”

The trial revealed that a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy showed a photo of Kobe Bryant’s body to a bartender. Another bar patron who witnessed the exchange launched an official complaint. Firefighters also circulated the photos around at an awards banquet, while others showed them to their spouses.

An attorney for the county claimed that authorities captured the images to help assess the difficult-to-reach crash site in the mountains above Malibu. They added that Sheriff Alex Villanueva demanded the deletion of all photos after learning that they were leaked.

Last week, the sheriff admitted that his department had insufficient policies that address privacy concerns. He added that there was “no playbook” on first responders taking crash site photos with their personal gadgets. He also noted that he had no way of confirming if all leaked images had indeed been deleted.

None of the photos have been leaked publicly, but Vanessa Bryant expressed her constant fear of seeing them one day.

The trial’s closing arguments started on Tuesday, which would have been Kobe Bryant’s 44th birthday.

The jury of nine unanimously voted in favor of Bryant, who was awarded $16 million, and Chester, who was awarded $15 million.

Source: CNBC