Kobe Bryant's Widow Vanessa Bryant to Donate $16 Million Court Winnings to Mamba & Mambacita Foundation
Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, said she will donate all the $16 million she won from her civil suit against Los Angeles County to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.
Vanessa won a huge legal battle against the county, forcing the local government to pay her and co-plaintiff Chris Chester a total of $31 million in damages over the distribution of photos taken at the helicopter crash scene in January 2020.
Big Victory for Vanessa Bryant Leads to a Big Donation for Kobe Bryant's Charity
A nine-member jury awarded Vanessa Bryant $16 million, while Chris Chester was separately awarded $15 million after an 11-day civil trial that went into graphic detail about the gruesome photos taken from the crash site.
Both sued Los Angeles County for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of their loved ones' bodies at the site of the helicopter crash.
Attorney Luis Li, who represented Vanessa in the trial, told TMZ that his client only sought accountability, adding that the legal system "does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline."
The lawyer noted that Kobe's widow hopes this case will help change the "callous behavior" of the sheriff and fire departments' first responders. He added that Vanessa also wanted the $16 million to "shine a light on Kobe and Gigi's legacy."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the foundation named after Vanessa Bryant's husband and daughter offers sports education to underserved athletes.
It was established by the Lakers star in 2016 as the Mamba Sports Foundation but was renamed after Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, died in 2020.
Vanessa Bryant Case Changed Invasion of Privacy Rules in California
The plaintiffs sued Los Angeles County for invasion of privacy and negligence. Vanessa Bryant claimed that the county sheriff's and fire department employees improperly shared images of human remains from the helicopter crash.
The defense argued that the photos were never made public. However, the plaintiffs' lawyers said there was evidence that several other people received the images before Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva ordered the photos to be deleted.
Vanessa has made it clear that the thought of the photos of her husband and daughter's dead bodies surfacing gave her panic attacks and that the county has given her emotional damage.
According to Yahoo! News, most of the money will come from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, which has a long-established practice of sharing photos from crime scenes.
This practice has already been made illegal thanks to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed the "Kobe Bryant Act," which made it illegal for first responders to share photos of a dead person at a crime scene or a scene of an accident.
Photos taken at such scenes can only be for "Law Enforcement Purposes."
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
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