Entertainment
Vanessa Bryant breaks down in tears as court hears how officers showed ‘gratuitous’ photos of Kobe’s body from helicopter crash scene-Alicia Adejobi-Entertainment – Metro
Vanessa has filed a lawsuit against the accused sheriff’s deputies and firefighters.
Vanessa Bryant was in attendance at court as her lawyer began his opening statement (Picture: AP)
Vanessa Bryant sobbed in court as details were revealed of how responding officers allegedly showed graphic photos of her late husband Kobe Bryant’s body in a helicopter crash.
NBA legend Kobe died aged 41 on January 26, 2020, alongside their 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others when their helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California while enroute to a girls basketball tournament.
The basketball star’s widow Vanessa, 40, has filed a federal invasion of privacy lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff’s Department after a deputy and firefighter who responded to the scene, allegedly leaked photos from the crash scene.
According to the lawsuit, a deputy is accused of showing photos of Kobe’s body to people at a bar two days after he died, while a firefighter is said to have shown them to off-duty colleagues.
The close-up images of both Kobe and Gianna’s bodies were reportedly shared around on at least 28 devices belonging to the sheriff’s department, at least 12 firefighters, while also being shown to people in bars and at an awards gala.
The court documents state that Vanessa suffered ‘severe emotional distress’ and even became ‘physically ill’ at the idea of strangers ‘gawking’ at the horrific photos of her husband and teenage daughter’s deceased bodies.
Vanessa, 40, broke down in tears during the distressing details (Picture: Mona Shafer Edwards / BACKGRID)
Vanessa has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the county sherriff’s department (Picture: AP)
Vanessa argues that the officers did not take the photos for official purposes, but ‘for their own personal gratification’.
As the trial got underway at a US district court in California on Wednesday, Vanessa’s attorney Luis Li delivered a powerful opening statement, which began with him showing the 10-person jury video footage of Deputy Joey Cruz at the Baja California Bar & Grill in Norwalk, California.
In the clip, Deputy Cruz is seen showing his mobile phone to a bartender who ‘visibly recoils’ from what they saw, allegedly Kobe’s body, before walking away.
Kobe, 41, died alongside daughter Gianna, 13, in the helicopter crash (Picture: Getty Images)
Li also played an audio clip of one detective saying his wife would not look at the photos after he described the victims as ‘piles of meat’.
The attorney then told the court, according to Rolling Stone: ‘January 26, 2020, was and always will be the worst day of Vanessa Bryant’s life. This case is about accountability. We’re going to prove to you that county employees took pictures and shared them widely.
‘They took close-ups of limbs, of burnt flesh. It shocks the conscience.’
Li added: ‘County employees exploited the accident. They took and shared pictures of Kobe and Gianna as souvenirs. They poured salt in an unhealable wound.’
Vanessa learned of husband Kobe and daughter Gianna’s death through phone notifications (Picture: Rex Features)
However, county lawyers argued: ‘It is undisputed that the complained-of photos have never been in the media, on the Internet, or otherwise publicly disseminated.
‘Plaintiff Vanessa Bryant has never seen county photos of her family members.’
At one point, as seen in court sketches, Vanessa became overwhelmed with the details and was seen covering her face with her hand while in tears.
Two other families whose loved ones died in the helicopter crash also filed lawsuits against the county, which has already agreed to pay out a $2.5million settlement.
Last year, it was revealed that Vanessa learned of Kobe and Gianna’s deaths through notifications on her phone saying ‘RIP’.
Earlier this year, a statue of Kobe and Gianna was erected at the crash site in their memory to mark the second anniversary of their deaths.
In addition to Gianna, Vanessa is also mother to daughters Natalia, 19, Bianka, five, and Capri, three, from her 18-year marriage to Kobe.
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