LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 17: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks at Staples Center on November 17, 2019 in Los Angeles, California (Image: Getty)
Vanessa Bryant, widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, has requested to publicly name the Los Angeles County deputies who allegedly shared photos of the helicopter that killed her husband, daughter, Gianna and seven others in January 2020.
In September, Bryant sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over the “unauthorized” photos being shared. She is seeking damages for negligence, invasion of privacy and intensional infliction of emotional distress.
On Wednesday, her lawyers filed an amended complaint to add the deputies and the Los Angeles County Fire Department as defendants in the lawsuit. New court documents showed a detailed internal affairs report from the sheriff’s department that stated that one deputy took up to 100 photos at the scene. Deputies quickly shared some of the photos by text and other messaging apps. The deputies’ names were blacked out in the complaint, and it’s up to the courts to decide whether it should be sealed or not.
“These specific deputies need to be held accountable for their actions just like everyone else,” Bryant wrote in a Saturday Instagram story.
The Los Angeles Times reported that county lawyers have argued to keep the deputies’ names sealed. Otherwise, their personal information, like their home addresses, would be known to the public. The deputies would likely be targeted by hackers who want to publish the photos.
The lawsuit also alleged that Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva personally assured Bryant that deputies secured the area where the crash occurred to protect her privacy. Villanueva later told Bryant that he ordered his deputies to destroy the photos after discovering the “wildy inappropriate” situation, according to the complaint.
In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill prohibiting first responders to take unauthorized photos of the dead at the scene of a crime or accident.
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