- Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka spoke in court about Kobe’s relationship with Vanessa Bryant.
- He testified in Vanessa Bryant’s trial against LA County over photographs of the helicopter crash site in Kobe.
- Pelinka said he and Vanessa Bryant visited the crash site to pay tribute six months after the crash.
Six months after the helicopter carrying Kobe and Gianna “Gigi” Bryant crashed in Calabasas, California, killing all nine on board, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, died. , climbed about 1,200 feet of hill in an all-terrain vehicle. Aircraft crashed.
There, Vanessa Bryant and Pelinka, friends of more than 20 years, paid tribute to Kobe and Gigi, Pelinka told jurors in federal court in Los Angeles.
“Part of her grief and healing journey was wanting to touch the dirt from where they went to heaven,” Pelinka told the court, holding back tears. I knew you were with me.”
Pelinka’s testimony kicked off the first day of Vanessa Bryant’s trial against Los Angeles County after the LA Sheriff’s Deputy and the LA County Fire Chief took and shared photos of the helicopter crash site in late January 2020. He provided a window into Vanessa Bryant’s emotional state after the crash. , and how her distress worsened after she learned that illegal crash site photos were taken.
Helicopter carrying couple Kobe Bryant on January 26, 2020 13 year old daughter Gianna baseball coach John Altobelli and his family Crashed near Malibu on the way to a women’s basketball game. All nine crew members, including pilot Ara Zobayan, died in the crash.
Vanessa Bryant, September 2020 suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, The county fire department, the entire county, and eight police officers responded to reports of first responders vandalized by the LA Times, I took and shared photos of the crash site in January 2020Chris Chester, whose wife Sarah and daughter Peyton died in the crash, is also suing county workers for the same federal and state claims. Integrated 9-day trial alongside Bryant against the county.
Pelinka said she was at church with her family on the morning of the crash and received a message from Kobe Bryant while on the helicopter asking for help giving advice to young girls on the flight about working in the sports industry. I asked if there was any.
Pelinka told the court how he met the NBA legend in 1998, when they were about to launch their careers, and said that was Kobe’s nature.
“He’s still my best friend. ‘Being friends with Kobe is like having a true superhero as your best friend.'”
Pelinka, dressed in black and crying during much of the proceedings on Wednesday, said Vanessa Bryant, who was so concerned about “the beauty she created around her children,” that county officials took pictures of Kobe and Kobe. of Gigi’s remains at the crash site, he thought of the gruesome photo “juxtaposed with the one she took at home.”
In her opening statement, Mira Hashmoor County Attorney stated that first responders from various agencies have “spent lives” to document the crash site, respond to the crash, and extinguish the resulting wildfires in accordance with agency policy. I bet,” he said.
Hashmall argued in his opening statement that 18 different federal and state agencies, including the FBI, responded to the crash site and that only media agencies publicly disseminated photos of the crash. Alex Villanueva said that issuing a take down order to the staff who took the photos helped “contain” the spread of the photos amid “misjudgment” from county staff who sent the photos to each other.
Bryant’s lawsuit seeks punitive damages against county defendants accused of taking and sharing photos of the crash site. Federal claims relating to constitutional rights to images of, and LA County agency practices, photos.
In an early victory, Judge John Walter authorized Chester’s and Bryant’s attorneys to call the coroner who took photographs of the scene, stating that the coroner’s photographs were “plaintiff’s best representations of what the photographs depict.” “Evidence,” he added, adding that they probably wouldn’t.
Hashmall told Insider that the plaintiffs “seek to provoke the jury’s emotions by conflating photographs taken by the coroner for a completely different purpose with those taken by the sheriff or the fire department.” rice field.
Vanessa Bryant’s attorney, Lewis Lee, said in his opening statement that LACFD officials took “full-body” photographs of the remains at the crash site and sent the photographs to the county officials’ web, claiming the county was “healed.” It is unconstitutional to pour salt on no wounds.”
“Bryant’s loved ones deserve to be treated with the same care and dignity that every culture in the world treats dead people.
