L.A. County says lawsuit over graphic Kobe Bryant crash pics should be dismissed after it took ‘corrective personnel actions’
Graphic souvenir photos of Kobe Bryant’s deadly helicopter crash were snapped and shared by first responders but never “publicly disseminated,” so a lawsuit filed by the hoops legend’s widow has no merit, Los Angeles County claims.
In a new court filing asking for dismissal of Vanessa Bryant’s invasion of privacy lawsuit, county lawyers admit government employees shared accident site photographs internally and with “a bartender in Norwalk,” but they claim the actions were remedied with internal disciplinary action.
“The county does not condone this showing of accident site photographs and has taken corrective personnel actions accordingly,” the new filing in the legal battle playing out in federal court reads.
“The photographs at issue here were not given to the media and were not posted on the internet. They were not publicly disseminated,” the new 24-page answer to Vanessa’s complaint states.
“Plaintiff brought this lawsuit because she is concerned that photographs may be publicly disseminated. There is no legal basis for suing Defendants for hypothetical harm,” the paperwork argues.
The county says Vanessa’s lawsuit should be dismissed with prejudice and that she should cover the county’s legal fees related to the case.
Vanessa filed the complaint last year, claiming “no fewer than eight sheriff’s deputies at the crash site pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents and coaches” on Jan. 26, 2020, the day the helicopter chartered by Kobe Bryant crashed in dense fog in Calabasas, Calif.
The horrific crash killed all nine people on board, including the Lakers star, 41, and the Bryants’ 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
Lawyers representing Vanessa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the county’s latest filing.
In a filing last week, Vanessa’s lawyers said she’s still pursuing “substantial discovery,” including “more than forty depositions, forensic examinations of electronic devices and cloud-based storage accounts in the possession of defendants and third parties”.
Her complaint already has named four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies as targets of her discovery. They are Raul Versales, Michael Russell, Rafael Mejia and Joey Cruz.
A Los Angeles County fire captain identified as Tony Imbrenda has filed his own civil action in the case saying he was retaliated against for refusing to hand over his personal cell phone for inspection after he already handed over his department cell phone and laptop.
Federal safety officials determined in February that pilot error likely linked to “self-induced pressure” to please a celebrity client caused the tragedy.
The National Transportation Safety Board said pilot Ara Zobayan ignored his training when he intentionally flew into blinding clouds at high speed, allowing himself to become susceptible to spatial disorientation phenomena known as “the leans” and “somatogravic illusion.”
