Kobe Bryant’s widow was awarded $16 million as part of a $31 million jury verdict Wednesday against Los Angeles County for deputies and firefighters who shared gruesome photos of the NBA star, his 13-year-old daughter and other victims killed in helicopter crash in 2020. . The nine jurors unanimously agreed with Vanessa Bryant and her lawyers that the photos invaded her privacy and caused her emotional distress. She cried quietly as they read it. The jury deliberated 4 1/2 hours before reaching the verdict on Kobe Bryant Day, which is celebrated in Los Angeles on Aug. 24 because it represents his jersey numbers — 8 and 24 — and is the day after his birthday . He would have turned 44 on Tuesday. After the verdict, Vanessa Bryant posted a photo on Instagram with her husband and daughter. “Everything for you!” the caption read. “I love you! JUSTICE for Kobe and Gigi!” A county attorney declined to comment on the verdict outside the courtroom. The photos were shared mostly between Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials and fire departments, including some who were playing video games and attending an awards banquet. They were also seen by some of their husbands and in one case by a bartender at a bar where an MP was drinking. Vanessa Bryant tearfully testified during the 11-day trial that news of the photos compounded her grief a month after losing her husband and daughter and that she still has panic attacks at the thought that he might still be out there. “I live in fear every day of being on social media and this coming up,” she testified. “I live in fear that my daughters are on social media and it shows up.” Co-defendant Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter were also among the nine people killed in the crash, was awarded $15 million. “We are grateful for a jury and a judge who gave us a fair trial,” said Chester’s attorney Jerry Jackson. Vanessa Bryant’s attorneys did not give jurors a dollar amount they believed their client was worth, but Chester’s attorney gave them proposed instructions that would mean tens of millions for each plaintiff. Vanessa Bryant and her attorney declined to comment outside court Wednesday. Her face was still full of tears as she walked past television cameras and dozens of reporters and climbed into an SUV. Vanessa Bryant’s lawyer, Louis Lee, told jurors the close-up photos had no official or investigative purpose and were just “visual gossip” shared out of abject curiosity. County Attorney J. Mira Hashmall argued during the trial that the photos were a necessary tool in assessing the situation. He acknowledged that they should not have been shared with everyone who saw them. But he stressed that the photos had never been shown publicly, or even seen by the plaintiffs. He said that meant Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other officials had taken decisive and effective action when they ordered those with the photos to delete them. Kobe Bryant, the former Lakers star, five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was traveling with Gianna and seven others to a youth basketball game when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed into the hills of Calabasas west of Los Angeles . January 26, 2020. Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the crash.
