Police Took Photos Of 'Broken Bodies,' 'Burnt Flesh' At Kobe Bryant's Crash Site: Lawyer

The Los Angeles County coroner's office listed the cause of death for all nine people aboard the helicopter that killed NBA star Kobe Bryant as blunt force trauma AFP / Mark RALSTON

KEY POINTS

Eight deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department took photos of Kobe Bryant and his daughter at the site of their crash
The pictures were allegedly shared with colleagues
Kobe's wife Vanessa Bryant is suing Los Angeles County over the deputies' actions, citing emotional distress and invasion of privacy

Police officers at the scene of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others allegedly took photos of the victims' bodies and shared them with colleagues.

Eight deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department took photos of Kobe and Gianna "for a laugh like they were souvenirs," the lawyer of Kobe's wife Vanessa Bryant claimed, according to a TMZ report.

The father and daughter were among the passengers of a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter that crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26, 2020.

All the occupants, including Kobe and Gianna, who were aged 41 and 13 at the time, respectively, as well as baseball coach John Altobelli, basketball coach Christina Mauser, pilot Ara Zobayan and four others, died from blunt trauma, examinations conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner found.

Vanessa was promised that the site of the crash would be kept private, but deputies allegedly used their cellphones to take photos for personal use, her lawyer claimed.

The pictures, which were allegedly shared with colleagues, showed "broken bodies, close-ups of limbs and burnt flesh," the lawyer added.

Vanessa's lawyer played the deposition of a sheriff's detective who told his wife the photos showed "piles of meat."

One deputy allegedly showed the pictures to a woman at a bar in an effort to impress her, resulting in the bartender reporting the conversation to authorities.

Vanessa is suing Los Angeles County over the actions of the deputies, citing emotional distress and invasion of privacy.

The deputies "poured salt in an unhealable wound" by taking photos of the victims for their personal use, Vanessa's lawyer said.

Vanessa now lives "in fear, anxiety and terror," her attorney added.

Prior to this complaint, Vanessa filed a lawsuit against the sheriff's office in September 2020 over the sharing of the crash scene photographs.

The family of Mauser filed a similar lawsuit against the sheriff's office in December of the same year.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Kobe Bryant Act into law two years ago following the NBA star's death.

The law made it a crime for first responders to share photos of a dead person at a crime scene for purposes unrelated to the case, which is punishable by a $1,000 fine.