The trial began for the photos taken of Kobe Bryant’s corpse: “They took them out to laugh as if they were memories”

This Wednesday began the trial for the lawsuit filed by the widow of Kobe Bryant on the photographs taken by lifeguards at the scene of the helicopter crash that ended the life of the superstar of the NBA. The former basketball player The Lakers and her teenage daughter were among nine people killed when the aircraft crashed into a hill near The Angels in January 2020.

vanessa bryant He alleges that he suffered emotional distress because Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department personnel and firefighters took photos of the scene, which they later shared with friends and first responders. “At least 11 (sheriff’s) personnel and a dozen firefighters shared the photos within 24 hours of the crash.”Bryant’s attorneys wrote in court documents. In the weeks that followed, one (sheriff’s) officer showed photos of wreckage at a bar, another texted photos to a group of video game friends, and (county fire) personnel showed photos at an awards show. ”.

Luis Li, who represents the widow of the NBA star, denounced that the agents took pictures with their mobile phones and showed them to various individuals. As he argued: “The images were repeatedly shared with people who had absolutely no reason to receive those photographs. They took the photos to laugh as if they were memories”. The images showed the bodies of several victims “mangled, close-ups of limbs and burned flesh.”

For their part, Los Angeles County attorneys do not dispute that the photos were taken, but insist they were never made public and have since been removed. Mira Hashmall, the county’s representative in the civil litigation, contended that the case revolved around this issue of public outreach. ”From the moment of the accident until now, the county has worked tirelessly to keep photos from the crash site out of the public domain“, said. “More than two and a half years later, no photos of the county have appeared in the media, none can be found online, and the plaintiffs admit they have never seen them.”

In case of vanessa bryant has been combined with a similar one filed by Chris Chester, whose wife and 13-year-old daughter also died in the crash. Relatives of several other victims were awarded $2.5 million in compensation last year for taking pictures.

Kobe is widely recognized as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, a figure who became the face of his sport for two brilliant decades with Los Angeles Lakers. He was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 right out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016, after which he began building a lucrative business portfolio. He was also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping the US All-Star NBA team win titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

With information from AFP

KEEP READING: