Vanessa Bryant Addresses Crash Photos In Testimony

Her federal lawsuit is ongoing

Vanessa Bryant
Vanessa Bryant leaves Federal Court after testifying, Friday in the lawsuit over graphic photos taken by first responders at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, basketball legend Kobe Bryant, their teenage daughter and seven others.
Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Following the untimely death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash in early 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported on a shocking series of events that took place in the aftermath — namely, that Los Angeles County deputies had improperly shared photos of the crash scene. Earlier this month, the trial began in a federal lawsuit filed by Bryant’s widow Vanessa; the couple’s daughter Gianna was also killed in the crash.

On Friday, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, Vanessa Bryant testified in the case. “My husband and my daughter deserve dignity,” she said of the sheriff’s deputies having shared the crash photos.

She also described “[wanting] to run down the block and just scream” after learning what the deputies had done.

Her lawsuit named the county and its fire department and sherrif’s department as defendants, as well as four specific deputies. As the Los Angeles Times‘s report on the trial notes, Vanessa Bryant is not the only person filing a lawsuit of this type; it also mentions that Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter were also on board the helicopter, is also suing the county.

Given some of the details that have emerged about how the images were shared — which includes one deputy sharing an image with a friend while playing video games — it’s not at all difficult to see why these lawsuits have been filed.

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