UPDATE: A judge has denied Los Angeles County’s request to dismiss Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit over leaked photos of her husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash site.
According to court documents obtained by E! News, a judge ruled that “there are genuine issues of material facts for trial.”
Attorneys for Los Angeles County said that they “respectfully disagree” with the ruling. “The fact remains that the County did not cause Ms. Bryant’s loss and, as was promised on the day of the crash, none of the County’s accident site photos were ever publicly disseminated,” Skip Miller, partner at the Miller Barondess law firm and outside counsel for L.A. County, said in a statement to E! News. “The County did its job and looks forward to showing that at trial.”
Vanessa’s attorney, however, sees things differently. “This has always been about accountability,” Luis Li said. “We look forward to presenting the facts to a jury.”
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Vanessa Bryant is opening up about the emotional distress she experienced after learning that photos were taken of the helicopter crash site where Gianna and Kobe Bryant‘s remains were recovered.
In court documents filed by Vanessa’s attorney and obtained by E! News, the widow recalls reading a Los Angeles Times report that revealed that firefighters and “members of the Sheriff’s Department had taken and shared improper photos of the crash victims’ remains.” Vanessa adds that the images “became a source of gossip” in the two departments.
