Three years after his death, Los Angeles County has agreed to pay nearly $29m (£24m) to NBA superstar Kobe Bryant’s widow after police shared graphic images of his fatal helicopter crash three years ago.
It could be recalled that on 26 January 2020, Bryant and his daughter Gianna died along with seven others when the aircraft crashed in the LA area.
In view of the sad incident, his wife, Vanessa Bryant, sued, saying first responders photographed human remains as tradable “souvenirs”.
Reacting to the latest development, lawyers for LA County called the settlement “fair and reasonable”.
In a statement, lawyers for the plaintiff said “Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct. She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”
Mira Hashmall, the lead trial counsel for Los Angeles County in the case, said in a statement that all county-related litigation from the crash had been resolved.
According to her, the $28,850,000 settlement included the $16m awarded by a federal jury in August 2022 to Mrs Bryant in her invasion of privacy lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
Hashmal said, “We hope Ms Bryant and her children continue to heal from their loss”.
Reports also have it that Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also died in the crash, separately settled with the county for nearly $20m.
Recall that in March 2021 Mrs. Bryant shared the names of four sheriff’s deputies she said had distributed “gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches”, who had been travelling to a basketball game.
According to her, the pictures, including those of her 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were taken and shared “for no reason other than morbid gossip”.
She reportedly testified at the trial that she had read in media reports how photos of the crash were shown at a pub by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.
Speaking in court, she said “I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up,” she told the court.
It was gathered that California has since passed a state law prohibiting first responders from taking unauthorised pictures of people who die at the scene of an accident or crime.
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