Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa Bryant is suing LA County for emotional distress, alleging that county officials shared graphic photos of the crash site.

Tauscher painted a gruesome picture of the crash site, offering detailed insight into the grisly scene that would've been captured in the photos. "We just knew that they were with us." Johnson confirmed to the court on Friday that he had no regrets about taking the photos, or about airdropping all of them to LACFD Captain Brian Jordan who Johnson met at the scene. A woman who lost two family members in the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna testified in court on Friday that weeks after the tragedy, she witnessed LA County fire officials sharing gruesome photos of the crash site at a gala. Luella Weireter, an integral witness in Bryant's case, is intrinsically tied to the tragedy; she lost her cousin and in-law in the crash; later witnessed LA county fire officials sharing photos from the scene; and testified on Friday that she previously witnessed an LA sheriff's deputy snap a gruesome photo of a suicide victim in an unrelated matter when she worked as an EMT. A woman whose family members died in the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash later saw LA County officials sharing photos of the crash at a gala

Trial witness speaks out about reported reaction to leaked Kobe Bryant crash photos.

As they tell it, the photos were spread by responders at an awards gala, shared with a woman at a bar, and dispersed among their family members. Some, though, were deemed inadmissible for the trial due to Bryant receiving them before it became public knowledge that L.A. County responders had circulated anything – therefore, making them largely “hearsay” in this case. Apparently, he and other employees there, as well as some bar bystanders, viewed the horrific images which reportedly included ones of the nine victims’ remains. Particularly, they asked if Victor Gutierrez had found the pictures funny at that time. The attorney for Kobe Bryant’s widow pushed back in their cross examination of the witness. TMZ reports that Victor Gutierrez confirmed in court on August 12 that L.A. County Sherrif’s Deputy Joey Cruz offered to show him snaps of the crash site at the Baha Grill in Los Angeles where Gutierrez works.

L.A. cops have a dark culture when it comes to grizzly death scenes, keeping "ghoul books" with photos of famous people who met violent deaths.

The deputy admitted he took shots of Kobe's remains, although he says he didn't know at the time it was the famed basketball star. He also took pics of a body in a ravine near the crash site ... a body of a black child with long hair ... presumably Gianna. Deputy Doug Johnson testified he did not regret taking photos of the remains, claiming he was ordered to do so by a higher-up, even though that higher-up had said he gave no such order.

Deputy Doug Johnson testified on Friday that he didn't regret taking photos of Kobe Bryant's headless body at the January 2020 crash site ...

Vanessa also said she has seen one photo of her husband's body, and that it sickens her to see 'Kobe Bryant body' pop up as a suggested search on Google when she types her late husband's name into the search bar. Doug Johnson (pictured on Friday) testified on Friday that he didn't regret taking photos of Kobe Bryant's headless body at the January 2020 crash site. The photos were taken on a cell phone and later distributed In that incident, a bartender told a patron that an officer had just shown him the photos. That patron filed a complaint with the LA County Sheriff's Office. The deputy said a third of his photos were close-up shots and were commissioned by Deputy Raul Versales, who was stationed at the bottom of the Calabasas hill, where the crash happened.

Captain Emily Tauscher provided the jury with a detailed account of what she saw at the crash site.

The majority of the victims had to be scientifically identified because their wounds were so extreme, she said. Tauscher informed the jury of the proper photo practices of the coroner’s office, detailed accounts of how gruesome the crash site was, and the conditions of each victim’s body. About 1,250 photos of the crash site were taken, 300 featuring human remains.

Amid heavy fog and dense brush, eight members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department set off on foot up the remote terrain of the Santa Monica ...

A key argument in the case is whether the photos needed to be taken at all. "Is it your testimony that taking close-ups of Kobe Bryant's arm and hand helped the command post determine if additional resources were required?" They also claim the county failed to contain the photos because it never forensically searched the personal electronics of those who received them. "Do you know where he is?" "Do you know who he is?" But it wasn't the end. But even though all nine people aboard died in the crash, Johnson still had work to do. Li said two people spread them further. Her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and their daughter Gianna, were among the nine killed in the crash. Johnson was asked in cross-examination by Los Angeles County's attorney Mira Hashmall. It was about 10 a.m. on January 26, 2020, and a helicopter had just crashed. One of those who forged on was Deputy Doug Johnson.

Photos taken of the remains of Kobe Bryant and other victims killed in the 2020 helicopter crash were shared by an L.A. firefighter at an awards gala.

The county addressed the accusations of shared photos in a brief filed before trial. “There is no evidence that county employees have a ‘persistent and widespread’ practice of sharing ‘death images’ within LASD or LACFD,” the county’s stated earlier this month. Weireter added that she overheard another Los Angeles County Fire Captain make a joke about the horrid images.

Vanessa Bryant filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County after learning deputies shared photos of the victims.

The NBA legend, his daughter,,and members of her basketball team were headed to a tournament on Jan. 26 when their helicopter crashed into a Calabasas hillside. In an attempt to drive that point home, he said she “will be haunted by what they did forever.” But, Deputy Doug Johnson stands by his actions, stating that there was nothing wrong with him capturing images of the site or victims while appearing in court Friday (Aug. 12).

Kobe Bryant's passing completely rocked the NBA community. In a shocking and heartbreaking accident, Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, became one of seven.

It's an unfortunate circumstance for the Bryant family. “Photos taken at the scene of the fatal helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were shared by a Los Angeles County firefighter during the cocktail hour at an awards ceremony a month after the crash, according to witness testimony,” wrote CNN. “On Wednesday, the trial was launched for a federal civil lawsuit filed by Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, who claims that photos from the January 2020 crash were shared by county fire and sheriff’s department employees in settings irrelevant to the investigation, including at a bar. As the NBA community continues to remember and celebrate the life and career of Kobe, his now widowed wife is fighting a battle in court over the handling of the crash photos that were taken by first responders.

The deputy who took close-up photos of Kobe Bryant's body says he “didn't do anything wrong”. A civil lawsuit is underway into grim photos of the late NBA ...

The photos were then reportedly shared in casual settings and were they shown to people outside of the investigation. In total, about 25 up-close photos of the crash and human remains from the helicopter crash were documented by firefighters. Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, is claiming photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and young daughter, Gianna, were shared outside the investigation by fire and Sheriff’s Department employees.