Vanessa Bryant testified on Friday in her federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County over cell phone photographs taken by first responders of her husband, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, and their daughter soon after their deaths in a helicopter accident.
Bryant, age 40, is the final witness for the plaintiffs in the federal trial of consolidated cases filed by her and Chris Chester, an Irvine financial planner who lost his wife and daughter in the same crash. They are suing the county for unspecified millions of dollars, alleging that first responders from Los Angeles County took cell phone pictures of human remains at the Calabasas crash site for their own amusement as “souvenirs” and shared them with other law enforcement personnel and the general public.
The photographs have not been viewed by the plaintiffs. The crash on January 26, 2020, resulted in the deaths of nine individuals, including the former Lakers player, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, Chester’s wife Sarah, and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter Payton.
Bryant claimed that the first responders who photographed her daughter Gianna “violated” her, and she was saddened to learn that such images were taken despite the assurances of Sheriff Alex Villanueva that the area would be protected.
She stated that she continues to experience grief and fear at the prospect of the crash site photographs appearing in the future.
“It’s like COVID. Once it has been shared, it cannot be retrieved “She stated,
Wednesday, August 10, 2022, Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, exits a federal courthouse in Los Angeles.
The county asserts that all photographs taken by its deputies and firefighters were erased on the orders of their superiors, no longer exist in any form, and never entered the public domain or the internet. Bryant and Chester assert mental suffering at the mere notion that these photographs would one day be made public.
Thursday, Chester testified that his initial reaction to learning that first responders had taken and shared cell phone images from the crash site was “disbelief that morphed into fury.” He stated that he learned about the crash site images on his 46th birthday and that they were being shown in a pub, at an awards ceremony, and sent to others.
In answer to his attorney’s questions, Chester stated, “I could not conceive of a circumstance where that would occur.” “I had shielded my family from the most of the specifics (of the injuries suffered by their loved ones). Now, I expected to find images of the remains (on the internet).”
Throughout the trial, defense counsel have frequently noted that the photographs have not appeared online in the two and a half years since the tragedy. During the federal civil trial, several county fire and sheriff’s personnel testified that they erased any accident-scene photographs from their cell phones. He stated that this has not reassured Chester.
“I experience daily anxiety,” Chester testified. “Many things that people believed to be nonexistent have been discovered on the internet.
Chester recounted to the nine-person jury, which included a nun, the day he discovered that he had lost his wife and daughter in the disaster. As his mind raced, he abandoned the lacrosse game he was scheduled to play and drove toward Calabasas with a friend, observing smoke billowing from the hills.
Villanueva indicated at the Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff’s station that he “knew” the area had to be “shut down” to keep the media and fans away, and that he anticipated the crash site would be handled in a “sensitive and professional” manner.
Chester stated that when he learned a month later about the photo sharing, he immediately cautioned his sons, “Please do not begin Googling for them.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs claim the images were shared with at least ten individuals, but no evidence has been given that the photographs still exist or have ever been seen in public.
In addition to Chester and Bryant’s family members, the crash claimed the lives of Alyssa Altobelli, 14, Keri Altobelli, 46, John Altobelli, 56, Christina Mauser, 38, and Ara Zobayan, 50.