Vanessa Bryant testifies in court over photos of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash

Vanessa Bryant testified on Friday that she was just beginning to grieve the loss of her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, as she faced the new horror of being gunned down by police and firefighters. sheriff. Photographs of their bodies at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed them.

“I felt like I wanted to run and run around the block and scream,” she said, her tears turning to sobs and her voice rising. “I felt like I wanted to fall off the pier and jump into the water. The problem is, I can’t escape. I can’t escape my body.”

During his three hours on the witness stand in Los Angeles federal court, where he is suing Los Angeles County for invasion of privacy over the footage, Bryant said he struggled to capture public and private memorials for his loved ones and seven others. He was killed on January 26, 2020 and thought he was ready to really start the grieving process about a month later. She was with friends and her surviving daughters, holding her 7-month-old baby, when she got the call. Los Angeles Times History in photos of the accident site.

“I left the house and ran to the side so my daughters wouldn’t see me,” she said. “I was still shocked, devastated, hurt. I trusted them. I trusted them not to do these things.”

Evidence at trial showed that a sheriff’s deputy showed the bartender a photo of Bryant’s body while they were drinking, prompting a formal complaint from another man who was drinking nearby, and that firefighters shared them at an awards banquet. Others shared them with their spouses. The county attorney said the photos were only taken because they were essential to assessing the scene after the accident and that when Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva learned they were being shared, he demanded they be removed.

No photos have been released, but Vanessa Bryant said she has a constant concern that some might.

“I live in fear every day of being on social media and being exposed,” she revealed. “I live in fear that my daughters are on social media and exposed.”

The thought, she says, wakes her up at night as she’s lying in bed with her 3- and 5-year-olds, sometimes causing panic attacks when she can’t breathe.

j Bryant testified to Mira Hashmal, an attorney representing the Los Angeles County District Attorney at the trial, that she had not received any medical diagnoses of panic attacks or mental health disorders, nor had she received any medication for them.

He said he had been seeing a therapist for about 18 months after the accident, but hasn’t since.

“I feel like sometimes it helps me,” Bryant said, “but sometimes it’s a complete mess.”

Hashmal spent much of her 90-minute interrogation discussing the business roles Bryant now holds, including president of her husband’s multimedia company Granity Studios, overseeing the publication of a book she wrote and helping to finish and publish another. The foundation was started for Kobe and Gianna and several other companies.

Hashmal suggests that Bryant’s ability to do all of this meant he was functioning well and not gripped by fear and anxiety.

“It feels like you’re juggling a business empire more than anything else,” Hashmal said at one point.

“It’s a labor of love for me,” said Bryant, who remained calm and collected during the interrogation.

She often cried and sometimes laughed during cross-examination by her attorney Lewis Lee, who was forced to describe her life as a “proud daddy’s girl” with her husband and daughters.

“He was such a beautiful and devoted father,” she said.

Bryant described the day of the accident, her anxiety and frustration as she tried to find out if her husband and daughter were alive after initially hearing from an attendant that there were five survivors.

She described Sheriff Villanueva entering the room where she was waiting at the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station and confirming that her husband and daughter had been killed. He asked if there was anything he could do for her.

“I told him that if he can’t get my babies back, please secure the area,” Bryant said. “I’m worried about the paparazzi.”

“Did the sheriff tell you that one of his deputies had already come up the hill to take a close-up of the accident victim?” Lee asked.

“No,” Bryant replied.

During the cross-examination, Hashmal said that agent Doug Johnson, who was driving through rough terrain in the mountains north of Los Ángeles County, up to the accident site and took photos that were published, I was just trying to use them to evaluate the situation.

“You can understand why he would want the same information as you,” Hashmal said.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to take close-up photos of people to determine how many people are on the plane,” Bryant replied. “I think I could only tell.”

Bryant’s side discussed the case after his testimony, which came on the eighth day of the trial.