A $31 million jury finding against Los Angeles County for deputies and fire fighters shared graphic images of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, and other victims killed in a 2020 helicopter crash resulted in a $16 million payment to Kobe Bryant’s wife on Wednesday.
The nine jurors all concurred that Vanessa Bryant’s privacy had been violated and that the images had upset her. As it was read, she sobbed silently.
Kobe Bryant Day, observed in Los Angeles on August 24 in honour of his jersey numbers, 8 and 24, and because it falls the day after his birthday, was the subject of a 4 1/2-hour trial. On Tuesday, he would have turned 44.
Vanessa Bryant shared a picture of herself, her husband, and their daughter on Instagram after the verdict.“All for you, it proclaimed the caption. I adore you!” Kobe and Gigi deserve justice!”
Outside of the courthouse, a county attorney declined to comment on the verdict. Those who were playing video games and attending an awards luncheon were among the majority of LA County sheriff’s and fire department workers who shared the photos. Additionally, some of their spouses and, in one instance, a bartender at a bar where a deputy was drinking, witnessed them.
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Those who were playing video games and attending an awards luncheon were among the majority of LA County sheriff’s and fire department workers who shared the photos. Additionally, some of their spouses and, in one instance, a bartender at a bar where a deputy was drinking, witnessed them.
After losing her husband and daughter a month prior, Vanessa Bryant testified during the 11-day trial with tears in her eyes that learning of the images added to her still-fresh grief and that she now experiences panic attacks when she considers that they might still be out there.
She said, “I live in fear every day of being on social media and things cropping up. “I constantly worry about my girls using social media and these things popping up.”
Chris Chester, a co-plaintiff with her who lost both his wife and kid in the crash, received a $15 million settlement.
Jerry Jackson, Chester’s attorney, said, “We’re grateful for a jury and a judge who gave us a fair trial.”
Although Chester’s lawyers provided standards that would have translated to tens of millions of dollars for each plaintiff, Vanessa Bryant’s counsel did not provide jurors with a dollar sum they believed their client deserved.
Outside of court on Wednesday, Vanessa Bryant and her counsel declined to comment. As she walked past TV cameras and hundreds of reporters and hopped into an SUV, her face was still smeared with tears.
According to Vanessa Bryant’s attorney Luis Li, the close-up pictures were simply circulated as “visual gossip” out of a macabre curiosity and had no official or investigative intent. During the trial, county attorney J. Mira Hashmall contended that the images were a crucial tool for evaluating the circumstance.
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She admitted that not everyone who viewed them needed to know about them. She underlined, however, that neither the claimants nor the public had ever seen the photographs. She explained that this meant that when sheriff Alex Villanueva and other officials instructed individuals in possession of the images to erase them, they acted decisively and effectively.
On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant, a former Lakers player, five-time NBA champion, and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was headed to a youth basketball game with Gianna and seven other people when the helicopter they were riding in crashed into hills in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles. Federal safety experts attributed the tragedy to pilot error.
