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Vanessa Bryant Sues Four Sheriff's Deputies Accused of Leaking Kobe Bryant Crash Photos
Link to tweet
Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, on Wednesday posted the names of four Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputies she alleges shared graphic photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, their daughter, Gianna, and seven others.
Bryant’s Instagram posts include images of portions of her lawsuit, which was amended to include the names of deputies Joey Cruz, Rafael Mejia, Michael Russell and Raul Versales. The suit alleges that Cruz shared photos of Kobe Bryant’s body with a bartender and the others passed around “gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches”.
...In the lawsuit, Bryant alleges that according to a sheriff’s department investigatory report, one deputy took 25 to 100 photos on his personal cell phone that had no value to the investigation. The suit alleges that at least eight deputies snapped cellphone photos.
The suit says that on the day of the crash Mejia, who was assigned to the crash site, obtained photos from fire department personnel, then walked over to chat with a female deputy – who wasn’t involved in the investigation – and “for no reason other than morbid gossip”, sent them to her cellphone.
The suit contends that two days after the crash, Cruz “boasted“ to a bartender at a Southern California bar and grill that he’d responded to the scene and showed photos the trainee deputy had been sent by Mejia. They included bodies of a girl and of Kobe Bryant, the suit alleges. The bartender told a table of nearby customers “specific characteristics“ of Kobe Bryant’s remains, and the patrons became disturbed enough that one filed an official complaint with the sheriff’s department, the suit says.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/18/kobe-bryant-deputies-allegedly-shared-graphic-photos-fatal-crash?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Bryant’s Instagram posts include images of portions of her lawsuit, which was amended to include the names of deputies Joey Cruz, Rafael Mejia, Michael Russell and Raul Versales. The suit alleges that Cruz shared photos of Kobe Bryant’s body with a bartender and the others passed around “gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches”.
...In the lawsuit, Bryant alleges that according to a sheriff’s department investigatory report, one deputy took 25 to 100 photos on his personal cell phone that had no value to the investigation. The suit alleges that at least eight deputies snapped cellphone photos.
The suit says that on the day of the crash Mejia, who was assigned to the crash site, obtained photos from fire department personnel, then walked over to chat with a female deputy – who wasn’t involved in the investigation – and “for no reason other than morbid gossip”, sent them to her cellphone.
The suit contends that two days after the crash, Cruz “boasted“ to a bartender at a Southern California bar and grill that he’d responded to the scene and showed photos the trainee deputy had been sent by Mejia. They included bodies of a girl and of Kobe Bryant, the suit alleges. The bartender told a table of nearby customers “specific characteristics“ of Kobe Bryant’s remains, and the patrons became disturbed enough that one filed an official complaint with the sheriff’s department, the suit says.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/18/kobe-bryant-deputies-allegedly-shared-graphic-photos-fatal-crash?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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