Vanessa Bryant says that photos of the site where her husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant's helicopter crashed were passed around on devices owned by members of the LA County Sheriff’s Department. The claim comes from her ongoing lawsuit against Los Angeles County authorities.
Legal documents obtained by People claim that at least 28 devices within the department were sent the photos.
The lawsuit alleges that “close-up photos" were also shared by dozens of firefighters, one of whom passed them along to journalists. She also claims that they attempted to delete evidence of the photos.
“It has also shown that defendants engaged in a cover-up, destroying the direct forensic evidence of their misconduct and requiring extensive circumstantial evidence to establish the full extent of that misconduct,” Bryant’s attorneys say in court documents.
In response, the county's attorney, Skip Miller, turned the focus to the crash itself: “While the County sympathizes with Ms. Bryant’s tragic loss, it did not cause the crash that claimed the lives of her husband and child. Rather, it responded to that crash and, at her specific request, set up a no-fly zone, undertook extensive efforts to keep the public and paparazzi away, and made sure none of the investigative photos were ever publicly disseminated. The County did its job and believes there is no merit to this lawsuit.”
Bryant's trial is scheduled to begin next month.
[Via]