LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva testified under oath in a lawsuit filed by Kobe Bryant’s widow that he encouraged deputies to delete photos taken at the scene of a helicopter crash that killed the basketball star and his 13-year-old daughter.
In a brief filed by attorneys for L.A. County, defendant to the suit, Villaneuva said he told deputies to destroy the photos to ensure they were not leaked.
“I can tell you this,” Villanueva said in a deposition last week, “the problem at hand was images getting out and harming the families. I make decisions based on the immediate threat, which is a harm that those pictures can cause the family. I don’t make a decision based on ‘I might get sued six months later.’ That’s preposterous.”
Attorneys for Bryant and other plaintiffs to the suit who lost loved ones in the crash alleged that by deleting the photos, the county destroyed evidence that deputies took and shared them.
“That order was highly irregular,” Bryant’s attorneys wrote in a motion. “Unprecedented deputies’ experience — and out of the chain of command.” They further alleged when a captain complained to Villanueva about the move he was demoted.
Bryant has been ordered by the judge overseeing the case to produce therapy records by Nov. 29. The county has asked for documentation to verify Bryant’s claims of emotional distress in the wake of the leaked images.
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