Lawyers representing a Los Angeles County sheriff deputies union has reached a settlement with the county sheriff and others over the public release of an internal investigation into the alleged public distribution of graphic images from the 2020 Kobe Bryant accident scene.
Spectrum News 1 reported that Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the department and 20 unnamed “Does” were defendants in the May 2020 petition, which attempted to stop the public from seeing the final internal affairs report.
Details of the settlement with the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) were not released and the case is scheduled for a nonjury trial on Sept. 13.
On Jan. 26, 2020, Bryant and eight others — including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna — perished in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
The following month, NBC4 reported, Villanueva admitted that he instructed eight deputies who had reportedly taken graphic photos of the crash site to remove them from their personal devices. “We identified the deputies involved, they came to the station on their own and had admitted they had taken them and they had deleted them. And, we’re content that those involved did that,” Villanueva said.
“We’ve communicated in no uncertain terms that the behavior is inexcusable,” Villanueva continued. “I mean, people are grieving for the loss of their loved ones. To have that on top of what they’ve already gone through is unconscionable. And to think any member of our department would be involved in that.”
An internal affairs investigation was started after it was discovered that the deputies were allegedly distributing the images both inside the department and in public in at least one instance, according to Spectrum News.
The union petition indicated that Villanueva said the details of the investigation would be made public. “We’re going to make the entire investigation public so everybody can read it for themselves. And we’ll post that online,” stated the petition obtained by Spectrum News.
“Plaintiff (ALADS) desires a judicial determination of these controversies and a declaration that defendants do not have a right to publicly release the internal affairs investigation into the conduct of the officers involved in investigating the Kobe Bryant crash in contravention of (the state Penal and Evidence codes),” the petition also stated.
USA Today reported that Vanessa Bryant also filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County in September 2020, alleging that county personnel from the fire department and sheriff’s office inappropriately took and shared pictures of Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant after the helicopter crash.
Despite claiming that her complaint lacks merit, the county expressed a willingness to reach a settlement with Vanessa Bryant but she refused, insisting that defendants’ actions violated her privacy rights. In her lawsuit, she stated that she wanted to punish the deputy defendants “and make an example of them to the community.”
That case may go to trial later this month.
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