By Ben Kesslen – NBC News
Los Angeles County has demanded in a court filing that Vanessa Bryant undergo an independent psychiatric evaluation to prove that the leaked photos the helicopter crash in which her husband and their daughter died caused him emotional distress, according to the latest advance in his lawsuit against the county.
Bryant, 39, sued Los Angeles County and its Sheriff’s office last year, alleging county employees “showed” photos of the crash that killed her husband, basketball legend Kobe Bryant, and her daughter. 13-year-old Gianna. They died on January 29, 2020, along with seven other people, while traveling to a basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks, California, where Gianna was supposed to play.
Bryant and other family members have sued the county for tens of millions of dollars.
The county said Friday that it filed the motion because independent examinations are “necessary to assess the existence, extent, and nature of the plaintiffs’ alleged emotional injuries.” The defendants argued that the “severe emotional distress” was caused by the accident and not because of sharing the photos.
“Plaintiffs cannot claim to suffer from ongoing depression, anxiety and severe emotional distress and then refuse to have to support their claims,” the county noted in the motion, adding that the tests are “critical to the county’s defense.”
Bryant’s attorneys said the motion was part of “county tactics designed to intimidate plaintiffs into abandoning their search for a culprit.”
“Apparently, by the County’s estimate, senior officials should be protected from providing any testimony, but victims must not only endure the emotional toll of a full-day deposition, but also simply undergo an eight-hour involuntary psychiatric examination. because they had the audacity to demand accountability, ”their attorneys wrote in response.
Bryant claims in the original lawsuit that he expressed his concern to the Sheriff that the helicopter crash site was unprotected from the paparazzi and that he was assured that authorities would secure the scene.
“Faced with a scene of unimaginable loss, no less than eight Sheriff’s deputies at the scene of the accident took out their cell phones and took photos of the dead children, parents and coaches. The officers took these photos for their own personal gratification, ”the lawsuit alleges.