Vanessa Bryant.Photo: ESPN
A judge has ordered Vanessa Bryant to turn over her mental health records in the latest development of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
Monday’s motion comes after the judge denied the county’s previous request to require Bryant to undergo psychiatric evaluation to prove leaked photos of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husbandKobe Bryantand their 13-year-old daughterGiannacaused her emotional distress.
The crash also claimed the lives of 13-year-oldPayton Chester, Sarah Chester, 46, 14-year-oldAlyssa Altobelli,Keri Altobelli, 46,John Altobelli, 56,Christina Mauser, 38, and pilotAra Zobayan, 50.
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Bryant, 39, is seeking damages for emotional distress and mental anguish following the news thateight L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies allegedly took graphic photographsof the victims and shared them with unauthorized people. Sheriff Alex Villanuevaconfirmed to reporters at the timethat only the county coroner’s office and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were permitted to photograph the crash scene.
In her recent deposition, the mother of four testified that she is “traumatized, has trouble sleeping and is depressed for ‘many’ reasons.”
“The impact of the helicopter crash was so damaging, I just don’t understand how someone can have no regard for life and compassion, and, instead, choose to take that opportunity to photograph lifeless and helpless individuals for their own sick amusement,” she also said in her deposition.
The county is disputing Bryant’s claim that “the photograph-related actions or inactions proximately caused the allegedly severe and continuing emotional distress for which [Bryant] seeks monetary compensation.”
An attorney for Bryant did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Vanessa Bryant.John Salangsang/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Last year, Bryantfiled a legal complaintagainst the county, its sheriff’s office and fire department claiming that deputies “publicly disseminated photos from the helicopter crash site” after she personally requested “that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers.”
Her previous courtfilingdetailed that despite her request, “photos of the remains quickly spread within the Sheriff’s Department as deputies transmitted them to one another via text message and AirDrop. Within forty-eight hours, at least 10 members of the Sheriff’s Department obtained photos of the victims' remains on their personal cell phones despite having no legitimate governmental use of the photos.”
In May 2020, a spokesperson for the Bryant family exclusivelytold PEOPLEthat the “[filing] solely is about enforcing accountability, protecting the victims and making sure no one ever has to deal with this conduct in the future,” adding, “When a family suffers the loss of loved ones, they have the right to expect that they will be treated with dignity and respect. The Deputies in this case betrayed that sacred trust. This claim is intended to hold the Sheriff’s Department accountable and to prevent future misconduct.”
source: people.com
