LOS ANGELES – Vanessa Bryant testified on Friday that she had just begun to grieve the loss of her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and 13-year-old daughter Gianna. I used to take pictures of my body and share them.
“I felt like running down the block and screaming,” she said, her tears turning to sobs and her voice quickening. , I can’t escape.I can’t escape my body.”
During three hours on the testimony stand in Los Angeles federal court, Bryant sued LA County for invasion of privacy regarding his photos, but he did so in order to pass the memorial service for his loved ones and seven others, both publicly and privately. said to have fought He was murdered on January 26, 2020, and thought he was ready to really begin his grieving process about a month later. While holding a 7-month-old baby with his friends and surviving daughters, Los Angeles got a call about his Times article about crash site photos.
“I ran out of the house and went sideways out of sight of my daughters,” she said. “I was blind again, devastated and hurt. I trusted them. I believed they wouldn’t do these things.”
Evidence presented at the trial shows that a sheriff’s deputy showed a picture of Bryant’s body while the bartender was drinking, sparking an official complaint from another man who was drinking nearby, prompting firefighters to It was shown that Tsukasa shared them with each other at the awards banquet. Others shared them with their spouses. A county attorney said the photos were taken only because they were essential to assessing the site shortly after the crash, and that LA County Sheriff Alex said Villanueva learned they were being shared. When asked to remove them all.
No photos have been released, but Vanessa Bryant said she was always worried that some of them were still out.
“I live in fear of being on social media every day and of these things popping up,” she testified. These pop up.”
Lying next to her 3- and 5-year-olds, she said the thoughts keep her up at night and lead to panic attacks that sometimes make her unable to breathe.
Under cross-examination by J. Mira Hashmoll, the attorney representing LA County at the trial, Bryant had no medical diagnosis of suffering from panic attacks or mental health problems, nor was he on those medications. He testified that he was not taking it.
She said she had been talking to a therapist for about 18 months after the crash, but hadn’t spoken since.
“Sometimes it helps, but other times it completely wears you out,” Bryant said.
Hashmall spent much of the 90 minutes of cross-examination on Bryant’s current business role. She has, for example, served as president of her husband’s multimedia company, Granity Studios, oversaw the publication of one of her books he wrote, and helped complete and publish another. Did. The foundation started for Kobe and Gianna and has since founded several other companies.
Hashmall suggested that Bryant’s ability to do all of this meant that she was functioning well and wasn’t overwhelmed by fear and anxiety.
“It sounds like you’re manipulating a business empire,” Hashmall said at one point.
“For me, it’s a labor of love.
She cried often and laughed occasionally. During the interrogation of her attorney, Lewis Lee, she had her describe her life with her husband, a “proud girl and her father,” and her daughters.
“He was such a beautiful and devoted father,” she said.
Bryant documented the day of the crash, her anguish, and her frustration when she tried to find out if her husband and daughter were still alive after first hearing from her assistant that there were five survivors.
She explained that Sheriff Villanueva walked into a waiting room at the Sheriff’s Station in Lost Hills and saw her husband and daughter killed. He asked if there was anything he could do for her.
“I told him if you can’t bring my baby back, get an area,” Bryant said. ‘I’m worried about the paparazzi’
“Did the sheriff tell you that one of his deputies had already gone to the hills to take close-up pictures of the crash victims?” Lee asked.
“No,” Bryant replied.
During cross-examination, Hashmoll hiked through rugged terrain in northern Los Angeles County to the crash site, and Deputy Doug Johnson, who took the photos that were later shared, is only trying to use them to assess the situation. said that
“I can understand why he would want the same information as you,” Hushmall said.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to take close-up pictures of people to determine how many people are on the aircraft,” Bryant replied. “I think he was just counting.”
Bryant’s side dropped the case after her testimony on the eighth day of trial.
