Families of victims involved in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and others in January 2020 were awarded $31 million Wednesday by a California federal jury after it was found that the Los Angeles County sheriff’s and fire departments violated their constitutional rights when first responders publicly shared graphic photos of the crash site and victims’ remains.
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After an 11 day trial, and only four hours of deliberation, the jury returned the verdict awarding $16 million to Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, and $15 million to Christopher Chester, who lost his wife and daughter in the 2020 crash.
“Every person who died on that hill had the right to have their dignity preserved,” Luis Li, who represents Vanessa Bryant, told the jury Wednesday during his rebuttal to the county defendants’ closing argument.
The jury was asked to find separately whether the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department were liable for the plaintiffs’ emotional damages, and jurors found the sheriff’s department owes Bryant $10 million and the fire department $6 million. According to the verdict, Chester was also rewarded $9 million from the sheriff’s department and $6 million from the fire department.
J. Mira Hashmall, who represents the county, told the jury Wednesday during her closing argument that the allegations in the case do meet the standard of a constitutional violation. A small group of employees acted inappropriately, and internal investigations by both the LASD and LACFD found some of the individuals were out of line, but that is a county employment issue and not a violation of constitutional privacy rights, she said.
“This is a pictures case and there are no pictures,” Hashmall explained to the jury while making it a point to highlight that the photos in question have never been posted publicly online, and it was only through the efforts of the fire and sheriff’s department that they were all safely deleted from any first responder’s devices.
But the jury disagreed and found both county agencies either failed to have policies adequate to prevent violations of law by its employees or failed to train its employees. The jury also found that the sheriff’s department had a longstanding custom and practice of publicly disseminating photos of deceased people and crime scenes, but that the fire department did not.
“We are grateful for the jury’s hard work in this case,” Hashmall said in a statement. “We disagree with the jury’s findings as to the county’s liability, we believe the monetary award shows that jurors didn’t believe the evidence supported the plaintiffs’ request of $75 million for emotional distress. We will be discussing next steps with our client. Meanwhile, we hope the Bryant and Chester families continue to heal from their tragic loss.”
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Source: https://www.law360.com/articles/1524194/kobe-bryant-jury-awards-families-31m-over-crash-pics
