Los Angeles California — A federal jury found Wednesday that Los Angeles County should pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million for photographs of the NBA star’s body at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed him.
The nine jurors who returned the verdict unanimously agreed with Vanessa Bryant and her attorney that deputies and firefighters taking and sharing photos of the remains of Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna violated her privacy and brought her emotional distress.
The photos were shared mostly among Los Angeles County sheriff’s staff and fire departments including some who were playing video games and attending the awards banquet. They were also seen by some of their spouses and in one case by a waiter in a bar where a deputy was drinking.
In tears, Vanessa Bryant testified during the 11-day trial that the news of the photos compounded her grief a month after the loss of her husband and daughter, and that she still had panic attacks at the thought that they might still be there.
“I live in fear every day of being on social media and of these things appearing,” she testified. “I live in fear of my daughters appearing on social media and these things appearing.”
Plaintiff Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter were also among nine people killed in the accident, received $15 million in damages.
Vanessa Bryant’s attorneys didn’t give jurors a dollar amount they thought their client was worth, but Chester’s attorney gave them proposed guidelines that would mean tens of millions for each plaintiff.
Vanessa Bryant’s attorney, Lewis Lee, told jurors that the close-up photos had no official or investigative purpose, and were just “visual chatter” shared out of outrageous curiosity.
District attorney C. Mira Hashmol during the trial that the photographs were a necessary tool for assessing the situation.
She acknowledged that she should not share it with everyone who saw it. But she emphasized that the photos never came out in public, and were never seen by prosecutors. She said this meant that Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other officials took decisive and effective action when ordering those who had the photos to delete them.
Kobe Bryant, former Lakers star, five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was traveling with Gianna and seven others to attend a youth basketball game when the helicopter they were in crashed in the hills in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. .
Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the crash.
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