MARCH 1, 2023:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed (Feb. 28, 2023) to settle legal issues surrounding photos of the body of the NBA star and others who were killed in a 2020 helicopter crash. Attorneys say Los Angeles County agreed to pay Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, and their daughters $13.5 million on top of the $15 million that jurors awarded her at a trial in August. County deputies and firefighters had shot photos of the bodies and shared them with others in their departments. A county lawyer said the pictures were part of their job, but Vanessa Bryant’s lawyer said they were shared as “visual gossip.”
AUGUST 25, 2022:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury has found that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies of the NBA star and his daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed them. The jurors who returned the verdict Wednesday (Aug. 24, 2022) agreed with Vanessa Bryant and her attorneys that her privacy was invaded when they took and shared photos of the remains of Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna. Vanessa Bryant tearfully testified during the 11-day trial that news of the photos compounded her grief after losing her husband and daughter. County attorneys argued that the photos were necessary to assess the scene.
AUGUST 10, 2022:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant’s widow is taking her lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff’s and fire departments to a federal jury seeking compensation for photos deputies shared of the remains of the NBA star, his daughter and seven others killed in a helicopter crash in 2020. Jury selection begins in U.S. District Court on Wednesday (Aug. 10, 2022) in the invasion of privacy case. The county has argued that the photos, which were ordered deleted, have never been in the media, on the internet or otherwise publicly disseminated. Bryant is seeking unspecified millions because she fears the photos may eventually surface.
JUNE 2021:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant’s widow has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the pilot and owners of the helicopter that crashed last year, killing the NBA star, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others. Vanessa Bryant, her children and relatives of other victims filed a settlement agreement notice Tuesday with a federal judge in Los Angeles but terms of the confidential deal weren’t disclosed. Bryant and nine others died when their chopper, flying in fog, plunged into hills in January of last year while flying from Orange County to a youth basketball tournament in Ventura County. Federal investigators blamed pilot error.
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