25th August, 2022
A Los Angeles County jury has ordered the county to pay Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, and a co-plaintiff, Chris Chester, $31 million in damages.
The payout is for the gruesome photos taken at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed the basketball star and eight others.
Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters who rushed to the scene of the January 2020 crash snapped pictures of the carnage, including the mangled remains of the Los Angeles Lakers legend and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
A trial in Los Angeles heard how some of these first responders showed the photographs to members of the public — including a bartender — while one deputy texted them to a friend as the pair played video games.
Vanessa Bryant and Chris Chester, whose wife, Sarah, and daughter, Payton, also perished in the crash, sued for emotional damages over the pictures, which they said they feared would one day surface on the internet.
The civil jury ordered the county to pay $16 million to Bryant, and $15 million to Chester, after deliberating for just a few hours.
The award represents redress for past and future suffering.
Bryant wept while the verdict was read and left court without speaking to waiting reporters.
She later posted a picture on Instagram of her with her late husband and daughter, with the caption: “All for you! I love you! JUSTICE for Kobe and Gigi!”