On August 24, a Los Angeles jury awarded Vanessa Bryant, wife of late celebrity NBA legend Kobe Bryant and co-plaintiff Chris Chester a combined amount of $31 million. Vanessa and Chris has sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) for sharing photos of the horrific crash that killed loved ones of both the plaintiffs including the legendary basketball played Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant.
The trial that began on August 10 was emotional. The jury awarded a total of $16 million to Vanessa Bryant: $10 million from LASD and $6 million from the LAFD. Chris Chester was awarded $9 million from the LASD and $6 million from LAFD, by the same jury. He lost his wife Sarah Chester and their 13-year old daughter Payton, in the gruesome helicopter accident.
The jury concluded that both the LASD and LAFD had shared photos of the bodies of the families of Vanessa Bryant and Chris Chester. NBA celebrity Kobe Bryant’s body had been recovered on January 26 itself but the body of Gianna Bryant, who was training as a basketball player with the Mamba Sports Academy, was found on January 27, in a ravine.
This sharing of photos had invaded the privacy of the plaintiffs. It had also caused emotional distress as they had to see gruesome photos of the final moments of their loved ones, shared among so many people.
Seven months after the awful helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers in Calabasas, California, on January, 26, 2020, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted on August 12, 2020 to declare that August 24 (8/24 were his jersey numbers) would be designated as Kobe Bryant Day. His widow received a favorable verdict for her lawsuit against LA county officials on the same day, this year.
This year, Los Angeles celebrated Mamba Day by putting a sprawling mural of the legendary basketball star of the Los Angeles Lakers. On Wednesday, the LA Lakers also paid a light tribute to their iconic player at the Santa Monica Pier, where the Ferris Wheel was illuminated with the jersey numbers of the LA Lakers’ iconic player: 8 and 24 at 7:29 p.m. Angelenos across Los Angeles also wore purple and gold to celebrate their celebrity basketball legend on Mamba Day.
Trial over Kobe Bryant crash photos begins
