Kobe Bryant Crash Photos Trial: Vanessa Bryant in Tears as Lawyer Details How Deputy Shared Pictures of ‘Decapitated Body’

It had already been over two years since the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash. Now, his widow, Vanessa Bryant, is seeking legal action against the Los Angeles County sheriff's and fire departments.

She has sued the two departments for invasion of privacy after one of the deputies showed off pictures of Kobe Bryant's decapitated body to several bar patrons in a bar in Norwalk.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, the one sharing the photos was Deputy Joey Cruz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office. According to Vanessa Bryant's lawyer, Luis Li, a whistleblower who was at the Baja California Bar & Grill at that time said that the deputy was showing off pictures from the crash site and it disturbed him so much that he filed a formal complaint with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.

Los Angeles County Deputies and First Responders Took Pictures of the Crash for Themselves

Li told the jury that Deputy Cruz also tried showing off the disturbing images to a bartender, who according to Li, was seen visibly recoiling at what he saw and walked away.

The lawyer then added that January 26, 2020 will always be the worst day of his client's life, and the county employees exploited the accident by taking and sharing photos of her late husband and daughter as souvenirs.

In his opening statement, Li told the 10 jury members that first responders, including officials from the Sheriff's Office and Fire Department, "walked around the wreckage and took pictures of broken bodies from the helicopter crash." This included taking close-up photos of limbs and burnt flesh. Li then proceeded to play audio of one of the detectives who admitted he tried to show off the photos to his wife, but she declined to see those photos. He described the scene of the crash site as "piles of meat" in the audio.

These claims led Vanessa Bryant to file the lawsuit, claiming that she suffered severe emotional distress over the thought of strangers "gawking" at the images of her late husband and 13-year-old daughter. In her court filings, she claimed that the first responders took those photos "for their own personal gratification."

According to ESPN, the crash prompted a law that makes it a crime for first responders to take photos of the deceased at the scene of a crime or accident without authorization.

Los Angeles County Officials Claim Case is Just a 'Money Grab'

Sheriff Alex Villanueva ordered to have the photos from the site deleted, and the county has argued that Vanessa Bryant was distressed with the deaths and not the photos. The county claimed that the photos were never released in the media or on the internet, otherwise, they would have been disseminated already. They also argued that the harm she may have suffered was speculative.

NPR noted that the county already agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a similar case, but it was brought by two families whose relatives died in the same crash.

The litigation for this case has also gone ugly, with the Los Angeles County seeking a psychiatric evaluation of Bryant to determine if she suffered emotional distress.

However, her lawyers criticized the action as "scorched-earth discovery tactics" and claimed that the defense is trying to cully the grieving mother. The county responded to this statement by saying that while they were sympathetic to her loss, they dismissed her case as a "money grab."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Vanessa Bryant trial against Los Angeles County begins Wednesday - CBS Philly