Vanessa Bryant wins case to obtain names of deputies who shared pics of Kobe’s crash site

On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Vanessa Bryant can obtain the names of four Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who allegedly shared "unauthorized" graphic photos of the scene of the helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others in January last year. An internal sheriff's department report revealed that one officer took 25 to 100 photos of the crash site before sending them to multiple other deputies. It is believed that those photos were then shown to various civilians, including a patron and bartender at a local bar. 

Vanessa Bryant lawsuit: Kobe Bryant's wife sues LA County Sheriff's department for sharing “horrific” helicopter crash site photos

In September 2020, almost nine months after the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA, the NBA icon's widow hit the LA County Sheriff’s Department with a scathing lawsuit over photographs taken by deputies at the accident site. Vanessa's complaint read, "The gratuitous images soon became talked about within the department, as deputies displayed them to colleagues in settings that had nothing to do with investigating the accident." 

"One deputy even used his photos of the victims to try to impress a woman at a bar, bragging about how he had been at the crash site. Mrs Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online," read the suit. 

When news of the disturbing photos first became public, LA County Sheriff's Department head Alex Villanueva promised that all the material would be deleted and those involved reprimanded. However, there has not been any public acknowledgement that the latter ever occurred.

Only last month, Vanessa Bryant called for the sheriff's department to release the names of the deputies involved in the Kobe Bryant crash site photo-sharing, saying they must be held accountable, however, the department opted to keep secret the names of the deputies suspected of misconduct. The report claims that the names of the sheriffs were kept secret as they would be made a target for hackers. 

Names of deputies who allegedly share Kobe Bryant crash photos to be made public?

Earlier on Monday, reports confirmed that US District Judge John F. Walter rejected the effort of LA County lawyers to keep the deputies' names under seal. The ruling means that Bryant's lawyers can add the deputies' names as well as details from the internal affairs investigation into their conduct to an amended complaint in the suit against the county and the sheriff's department.

Image Credits - AP, Vanessa Bryant Instagram