Vanessa Bryant can obtain the names of four Los Angeles County sheriff delegates that her attorneys allege in a lawsuit that shared “unauthorized” photos of the helicopter crash site that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, her daughter and seven others , decided a federal judge Monday.
US District Judge John F. Walter rejected an attempt by Los Angeles County attorneys to keep deputies’ names confidential in the process. They argued that disclosing names would make deputies’ addresses and other personal information just a click away on the internet and that hackers could target them. The decision means that Vanessa Bryant’s lawyers can add the names of deputies and details of the internal affairs investigation into her conduct to an amended complaint in her civil rights case against the county and the Sheriff’s Department led by Alex Villanueva.
The judge wrote that “Sheriff Villanueva’s promise to publicly release the [internal affairs bureau] report after the investigation is completed undermines the Defendants’ alleged concern in disclosing the limited excerpts in question here. ”Local court rules give the county four days to appeal the decision.
Walter noted that there is “a strong presumption of access as a starting point” and the county has given no convincing reasons for doing the opposite. Bryant’s lawyers have concealed the names of deputies in their lawsuits, pending the court’s decision on whether the complaint should be sealed.
Vanessa Bryant’s lawyer, Luis Li, said that “transparency promotes accountability. We are looking forward to presenting Mrs. Bryant’s case in open court. “
In the decision, Walter concluded that allegations of a policeman’s misconduct should not be hidden from the public. “In fact, when the case involves allegations of police misconduct, the public has an interest in assessing the veracity of the allegations of official misconduct and whether the agencies responsible for investigating and prosecuting complaints of misconduct have acted appropriately and wisely” , he wrote.
He rejected the county’s arguments in detail. “While the Court recognizes that this case has been the subject of public scrutiny and media attention and that the Vice-Defendants are legitimately concerned that they will encounter vitrioles and social media attacks, such concerns alone are not sufficient to overcome the strength of the public interest in access. “
The judge noted that the county’s argument that, by identifying deputies, they could be targets of hackers looking for photos of the tragic scene made no sense. “Furthermore, the Defendants ‘concern that hackers might try to search for and gain access to Members’ individual devices to locate any photographs and post them is totally inconsistent with their position that such photographs no longer exist.”
The lawsuit seeks compensation for negligence and invasion of privacy, alleging that deputies and firefighters took and shared photos of the children, parents and coaches who died in the January 26, 2020 accident. The amended complaint filed last month provided new details of his alleged behavior when sharing photos of the remains at the accident site in Calabasas.
Bryant’s lawyers noted that the case cited as precedent by the county in its effort to conceal identities involves victims of sexual harassment. “The defendants try to match the vice-defendants who shared photos of the remains of Kobe and Gianna Bryant with victims of sexual harassment and other abuses,” wrote lawyer Luis Li in court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that a sheriff’s internal affairs report found that a deputy took 25 to 100 photos on the spot and that the photos spread quickly through text and phone-sharing technology within the next 48 hours among deputies who showed them to others . The county claimed that all photos were deleted.
Judge Walter found that Vanessa Bryant’s legal team can also cite a report on internal affairs delivered to them by the county. Walter wrote “contrary to the defendants’ claims, the courts recognized that victims, witnesses and other police officers may be more likely to participate in investigations or disciplinary proceedings if they believe that their allegations of misconduct will be investigated fully and fairly.”
The lawsuit alleges that several deputies shared images of the accident site, as well as several county firefighters who were witnessed taking pictures on personal phones. The lawsuit notes that a Los Angeles County fire department captain, who was a spokesman, said he had received photos of several firefighters present at the scene.
Bryant’s lawyers detailed how some of the officers got the photos. The case records accuse only one deputy of taking photos. It is not clear from the dispute whether it was his images that were repeatedly shared by others.
ONE Los Angeles Times investigation in 2020, he found that deputies had shared photos of the crash site.