The widow of Kobe Bryant, Vanessa, has begun legal proceedings in suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Alex Villanueva for leaking photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and daughter.
According to CNN, she is seeking “undisclosed damages to remedy civil rights violations, negligence, emotional distress, and violation of privacy.”
The lawsuit, which was obtained by entertainment site TMZ, said that on the day of the crash, family members gathered at the site and were told it was “secured”, however, due to a leak within the department, TMZ broke the news and fans were able to visit.
“But the biggest threat to the sanctity of the victims’ remains proved to be the Sheriff’s department itself,” the lawsuit reads.
Eight deputies “pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification.”
The lawsuit also stated that the officers shared photos in “settings irrelevant to the investigation” including at a bar.
Vanessa learned about the leak from an article and then requested information from the Department.
“To date, the Department has not provided a single piece of substantive information in response to Mrs. Bryant’s private requests,” the lawsuit read.
The lawsuit has called the department’s investigation a “cover up”, and alleges that the sheriff asked his deputies to delete the photographs.
Vanessa is also suing helicopter company, OC Helicopters, according to CNN.
Vanessa Bryant “Devastated” By Allegations, Photos Were Shared of Helicopter Crash
Update: March 2, 2020
Vanessa Bryant’s legal team has released a statement after allegations against the Los Angeles County Sheriffs department were made which implied that the deputies took photographs of the remains of her late husband and daughter, Kobe and Gianna Bryant, at the site of the Calabasas helicopter crash on January 26.
According to her lawyer, Gary C. Robb, Vanessa had “personally” gone to the Sheriff’s office on the day of the tragedy and “requested that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers,” and that it was “of critical importance to her as she desired to protect the dignity of all the victims, and their families.”
“Our client, Vanessa Bryant, is absolutely devastated by allegations that deputies from the Lost Hills Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles County Fire Department publicly disseminated photos from the helicopter crash site,” the statement read, before saying that “first responders should be trustworthy”.
“It is inexcusable and deplorable that some deputies from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s substation, other surrounding substations and LAFD would allegedly breach their duty. This is an unspeakable violation of human decency, respect, and of the privacy rights of the victims and their families. We are demanding that those responsible for these alleged actions face the harshest possible discipline and that their identities be brought to light, to ensure that the photos are not further disseminated. We are requesting an Internal Affairs investigation of these alleged incidents.”
Concluding the statement, Robb said: “Mrs. Bryant is grateful to the individual who filed an online complaint exposing these acts of injustice, and for the choice to protect human dignity.”
Bryant also shared the lengthy statement to her Instagram page.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the LA County Sheriff’s deputies shared “graphic photos of the helicopter crash” and allegedly “the victim’s remains were topics of discussion” among first responders after the crash.
In a statement to the Times, the chair of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, Patti Giggans, said that this behaviour was “completely unprofessional” and “very regrettable”.
Last week, People reported that Bryant had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter company that owned the aircraft, Island Express Helicopters, claiming that the pilot, Ara Zobayan (who also perished in the crash), “failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff,” “failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy conditions,” and “failed to properly and safely operate the helicopter resulting in a crash.”
According to the outlet, the claims also read that the helicopter company “knew or should have known” Zoboyan had previously violated “the visual flight rules minimums by flying into an area of reduced visibility from weather conditions.”
A representative for the helicopter made a statement that while it was a “tragic accident”, they would have “no comment on the pending litigation.”
Kobe and Gianna, along with seven others, died in a helicopter crash on January 26.
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