Vanessa Bryant Reportedly Wins Ruling Against Los Angeles County Sheriff & Fire Chief

BYHayley Hynes2.0K Views
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Vanessa Bryant
Bryant recently testified that she learned of Kobe and Gigi’s passing via social media.

It’s been nearly two years since the untimely death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others occurred in a tragic helicopter crash. In the time since, Vanessa Bryant and her family have been doing their best to find strength and heal; luckily for V, she just won an important ruling in her ongoing lawsuit.

As USA Today reports, Vanessa is suing Los Angeles county for invasion of privacy and negligence. The 39-year-old has reason to believe that employees of the county sheriff and fire department shared photos of remains that had been found at the site of the helicopter crash back in January of 2020.

The LA native requested to compel the pretrial disposition testimony of County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and County Fire Chief Daryl Osby, which was granted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Eick. He ruled that the two men offer “unique firsthand, non-repetitive knowledge relevant to the issues in this case” that could not be obtained through other sources.

The depositions have been limited to a maximum of four hours each so that they don’t intrude on Villanueva and Osby’s official duties. The county was hoping to block testimony, bringing up the argument that heads of government agencies “are not normally subject to deposition, absent extraordinary circumstances.”

In a statement to USA Today, an attorney for the county said, “while we disagree with the court’s decision, we will make both the Sheriff and Fire Chief available for deposition. Their testimony will not change the fact that there is no evidence any photos taken by County first responders have ever been publicly disseminated.”

Earlier this month, Vanessa testified in a deposition that she first found out about the loss of two of her family members via social media. The trial regarding the crash-scene photos is set to take place in February. 

[Via]


About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.
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