This archive report was first published on 9 May 2020.
May 8, 2020 - Vanessa Bryant has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff's department, alleging that deputies took and shared unauthorized photographs of the scene at the helicopter crash that killed her husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, seeks damages for emotional distress and mental anguish caused by the deputies' actions. According to the court filing, 'no fewer than eight sheriff's deputies were at the scene snapping cell-phone photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches.'
The deputies took the photos for their own personal purposes, despite there being no investigative purpose for them to do so. The only people authorized to take pictures of the scene were investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the coroner's office.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva acknowledged in March that deputies had taken photos of the crash scene, after the Los Angeles Times reported the existence of the pictures. He stated that the department had identified the deputies involved and ensured that the photos were destroyed so that they could not be circulated further.
However, the lawsuit alleges that the department's leadership told deputies that they would face no discipline if they just deleted the photos, rather than formally investigating the allegations to identify the extent of dissemination and contain the spread of the photos.
Vanessa Bryant has been made aware that some of the photos have surfaced on the internet, and the lawsuit is 'solely about enforcing accountability, protecting the victims and making sure no one ever has to deal with this conduct in the future,' according to a spokesperson for the Bryant family.
