Key surveillance footage shows Deputy Sheriff sharing graphic accident images of Kobe and Gianna, while in a public bar - and then laughing

When Vanessa Bryant lost her husband, Los Angeles Lakers basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, and her daughter, Gianna Bryant, in a tragic helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, the world joined her in outpourings of grief. Everyone on board the helicopter, including the Bryants, the pilot and seven others, died in the sudden, fiery crash.

By the summer of 2020, Ms. Bryant said she discovered explicit photos were taken at the scene of the crash, showing disturbing images of the victims and their remains. These photos, she alleged in her lawsuit filed on September 20, 2020, were taken by first responders and shared among themselves and with others.

The lawsuit accuses L.A. county of invasion of privacy and negligence after the first responders on the scene of the helicopter crash allegedly took and shared numerous photos of Ms. Bryant’s husband and teenage daughter and their remains.

The L.A. Times discovered, during an investigation into the crash, that deputies had shown photos of the disturbing scene, including one instance in a bar with patrons. The lawsuit says a deputy trainee showed the images from a cell phone to numerous patrons at a Norwalk bar.

A key witness testified last week about seeing the disturbing photos in the Norwalk bar. One bar patron said he felt betrayed when the L.A. Sheriff's Deputy showed him shocking photos of Bryant's dead body to a bartender, and then went from table to table, telling patrons and staff about the photos.

The bartender, Victor Gutierrez, was working at the Baja California Bar and Grill on January 28, 2020. Allegedly, his friend LA Sheriff's Deputy Joey Cruz came into the bar. Cruz was a first responder to the helicopter crash. The witness said Cruz shared the photos with the bartender and that many people there saw the images.

Key evidence including surveillance footage was shared in court. The video showed both Cruz and Gutierrez as Cruz showed Gutierrez a series of photos on his phone. Gutierrez told the court that when he first saw the images, he winced. But just a few seconds afterward, the security camera footage showed him and Cruz laughing.

Disturbingly, Ms. Bryant’s attorney asked Gutierrez, "Did you see a person you understood to be Kobe Bryant in the photos that Cruz showed you?" Gutierrez replied, saying yes, but could not tell if others were in the photos because "there were just parts.”

The damaging video surveillance shows Gutierrez then going up to cooks, staff, and at least five patrons’ tables telling them what he saw, and even pointing to his own body parts as he described the scene.

Ralph Mendez Jr., a Norwalk real estate investor, told the court the bartender visited his table, too. He said when Gutierrez told him what Cruz had shown him, he "sounded very excited.” Mendez said he felt disbelief, “disgusted and angry.” Mendez was so upset by the incident, he filed a citizen complaint when he got home that night.

In his complaint, Mendez wrote, “There was a Deputy at Baja California Bar and Grill who was at the Kobe Bryant crash site, showing photos of his decapitated body.”

After seeing the footage and this testimony, Vanessa Bryant left the courtroom extremely upset and crying.

L.A. County has not denied that Cruz did share photos at the bar. The county called his actions a “lapse.” The county said the photos were not shown outside of the bar and were then deleted not long after the incident.

A first responder sharing supposedly private photos of a celebrity and other victims with the public is, by law, a violation of the plaintiff’s privacy rights.

Not only was Kobe Bryant killed in the helicopter crash, but also seven others including two thirteen-year-olds, his own daughter and that of fellow plaintiff Chris Chester, who lost his wife as well.

The emotional opening arguments last week against LA County were a salvo in a bitter battle for the privacy rights of family members when their loved ones are celebrities and die in tragic accidents.

The lawsuit, beyond addressing the emotional turmoil of alleged private, shocking photos of loved ones shared by first responders, is also a trial about the violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights.

Grisly photos taken by first responders of Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna immediately after the crash included images of body parts, pieces of flesh in trees, and other extremely disturbing pictures.

The lawsuit states, ”Mrs. Bryant feels ill at the thought that sheriff's deputies, firefighters, and members of the public have gawked at gratuitous images of her deceased husband and child. She lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.”

Simultaneously to Ms. Bryant’s lawsuit, Orange County financial adviser Chris Chester filed a separate lawsuit against the county for explicit photos taken of his wife and daughter, who were both killed in the same, fiery crash.

Both plaintiffs said they are suffering from emotional distress by the knowledge of disturbing photos of their loved ones being shared with others. US District Judge John Walter consolidated both Ms. Bryant’s and Chester’s lawsuits in July.

Court documents show that at the trial, Ms. Bryant’s attorneys said they want to call a witness from the LA County Coroner’s Office to the stand. The lawyers asked the witness to bring "all photographs" of the victims of the crash.

Though these photos have been said by many to have been shown to the public, L.A. County opposed this request.

Despite video evidence showing that the photos were shown to a bartender and patrons, court documents say L.A. County Attorney Mira Hashmall said the photos are "are highly sensitive, gruesome images that have no place in this courtroom.”

"If the plaintiffs really wanted to keep the tragic details of what happened to their loved ones out of the public domain, they would not put these photos into the case," Hashmall said.

In a public statement, Hashmall said that the county "sympathizes with the losses suffered by the Bryant and Chester families,” but that there is no evidence photos were shared with the public.

"From the time of the crash to now, the county has worked tirelessly to prevent its crash site photos from getting into the public domain,” the statement said. “Over two and a half years later, no county photos have appeared in the media, none can be found online, and the plaintiffs admit they've never seen them."

Ms. Bryant and fellow plaintiff Chester strongly disagree.

In court documents, Bryant’s attorneys say, ”At least 11 (sheriff's) personnel and a dozen firefighters shared the photos within 24 hours of the crash. In the following weeks, one (sheriff's) deputy flaunted photos of remains at a bar, another texted photos to a group of video game buddies, and (county fire) personnel displayed photos at an awards gala."

Two years ago, due to Ms. Bryant’s allegations, California passed legislation making it illegal for first responders, including firefighters, police and others to take unauthorized photographs of dead people at the scene of a crime or accident.

Bryant, in the lawsuit, said it is common knowledge that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and L.A. County Fire Department share death photos.

The lawsuit seeks s punitive damages from any and all county defendants who allegedly took and shared crash site photos.