As the trial between Vanessa Bryant and Los Angeles County has just begun, the fire captain admitted to taking photos at the scene of the crash.
On January 26, 2020, the whole world learned of the death of American basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in the crash of their helicopter in California. A drama which made the front page of the media and which is still sadly illustrated by photos taken at the scene of the accident. An indelicacy which prompted Vanessa Bryant, the widow of the basketball player, to file a complaint against the county of Los Angeles insofar as these photos were taken and shared by the emergency services. ” If you can’t bring my husband and baby back, please make sure no one takes pictures of them.” she had asked though. But according to his lawyers, at least 11 (sheriff’s) employees and a dozen firefighters shared the photos within 24 hours of the crash “. It is stated in the court documents that at the ” Over the next few weeks, one (sheriff’s) officer showed photos of (human) remains at a bar, another sent photos to a group of video game friends (and firefighters) posted photos at an awards gala “. The trial between Vanessa Bryant and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office therefore opened a few days ago in an attempt to shed light on these allegations and the fire captain himself admitted taking photos of the crash and the bodies of the victims.
A traumatic intervention
” It was awful and that’s what made me quit that job.” testified Brian Jordan, now retired. He said he followed the procedure and did not know how the photos leaked on the web. Apparently traumatized by the accident, the former firefighter also begged the court not to remind him of the scene: ” I was there. I don’t remember being there. Please stop describing the scene to me”he implored, specifying that he had then erased the photos from his camera. “The images of this scene will haunt me forever.”
Los Angeles County attorneys acknowledge that photos were taken by rescuers but say none leaked to the press and have since been deleted. ” The county worked tirelessly to prevent photos of the crash from being made public “, argued one of them. Case to follow.