It is a clash between Vanessa Bryant and Los Angeles County, which Kobe Bryant's widow sued for "emotional distress" after rescuers took and shared photos of human remains found in the helicopter crash area on where her husband and daughter Gianna traveled.
In her deposition of October 12, Vanessa Bryant retraces the day of the accident: she was at home with two of her children when around 11.30 in the morning a family assistant knocked on the door and informed her of the accident, specifying, however, that there were five survivors.
Vanessa then asked if Kobe and Gianna were among them but the assistant replied that she didn't know anything about it. While trying to contact her husband she had started cell phone notifications with 'RIP Kobe', rest in peace Kobe.
Before the news was even officially communicated to her, Vanessa Bryant had run to the airport in an attempt to get on a helicopter to transport them to the accident site. A move that had not succeeded: it had been rejected because the weather conditions did not guarantee safety. Vanessa then got into the car with a Lakers manager and reached the scene of the accident: when they had communicated the news of the death, she had explicitly asked to make sure that no one took pictures. The widow then tells of having taken Kobe and Gianna's clothes from the area: "If their clothes represent the condition of their bodies, I cannot imagine how someone could be so treacherous to spread their photos as if they were animals on the road".
The deposition comes at a pivotal time in the clash, with Los Angeles County wanting independent medical and psychiatric assessments of Vanessa Bryant and others suing authorities for emotional distress.
Lawyers for the basketball champion's widow call the test request "cruel. When public servants violate the privacy and constitutional rights of the citizens they are sworn to defend, the victims must cross the pits to seek justice."