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Vanessa Bryant (left, with girlfriend Sydney Leroux) after testifying in court
Photo:
Damian Dovarganes/AP
In the trial for photos of the crash site after the death of US basketball star Kobe Bryant in a helicopter accident, his widow testified in court.
"I live in fear every day that the pictures will suddenly appear on social media," said Vanessa Bryant on Friday in Los Angeles.
She lives in fear that her daughters are surfing the internet and suddenly encounter these pictures: "It's like Covid.
Once it has spread, it cannot be reversed."
Vanessa Bryant alleges in her civil lawsuit that she experienced emotional distress because police officers and firefighters took photos of the crash site and later shared them with friends and other rescue workers.
According to Bryant's lawyers, at least 11 police officers and a dozen firefighters shared the photos in the 24 hours after the Jan. 26, 2020 accident.
Vanessa Bryant is asking for unspecified damages.
The suing district of Los Angeles does not deny that the photos were taken.
However, his lawyers argue that the pictures were never made public and have since been deleted.
In a separate process, other relatives of the crash victims were awarded a total of $2.5 million ($2.45 million today) in compensation for the photos last year.
Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit has been consolidated with that of another victim's relative, Chris Chester.
Chester, who lost his wife and 13-year-old daughter in the accident, told the court he was "afraid every day" that the photos - including images of the remains of the victims - could become public.
»There were a lot of things that people thought didn't exist – and then they showed up on the internet.«
Basketball star Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers died on January 26, 2020 when their helicopter crashed near Los Angeles.
According to the investigation, the pilot of the helicopter apparently lost his bearings after falling into thick clouds.
sak/AFP
