A federal judge in Los Angeles has granted a motion by Vanessa Bryant to compel depositions by both Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Fire Chief Daryl Osby in a lawsuit against the L.A. County.
The suit, filed last year, stems from Bryant’s allegations that photos of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, NBA star Kobe Bryant, and 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were taken and circulated by L.A. County sheriff’s deputies.
In his order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick determined both Villanueva and Osby were “likely to have discoverable information” and “unique, first-hand, non-repetitive knowledge” germane to the suit.
L.A. County is the lead defendant in Bryant's lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy and infliction of severe emotional distress. Villanueva and Osby are not named as defendants in the case, but the county sheriff's and fire departments are.
"Faced with a scene of unimaginable loss, no fewer than eight sheriff's deputies at the crash site pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches," the suit alleges.
Attorneys for the county contend Bryant and other plaintiffs in the case, which include loved ones of others who died in the January 2020 Calabasas plane crash, “cannot be suffering distress from accident site photos” because they never saw them, and they were never publicly disseminated.
Bryant disputes the county's assertions, claiming she's received copies of the images from harassers on social media—suggesting they were indeed leaked to the public.
County lawyers also want Bryant to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether her distress was actually caused by the photos, or in fact the loss of her husband and daughter.
Bryant's lawyers oppose a court-mandated examination, which they say is “invasive” and unnecessary.
"The county's tactics are simply a cruel attempt to extract a price for victims to obtain accountability," Bryant's counsel wrote in a court filing. "Rather than take accountability for conduct the sheriff himself has called ‘wildly inappropriate' and ‘disgusting,’ the county has chosen to pull out all the stops to make the case as painful as possible."
Bryant reportedly told her lawyers she wants the deputies who allegedly took the photos to be disciplined and is not seeking specific monetary damages—a decision she leaves up to a jury.
Representatives for Villanueva and Osby could not be immediately reached for comment.
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