On January 26, 2020, months before the covid-19 pandemic broke out, basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people were on their way by helicopter to watch a Mamba Sports game, a sports academy that the athlete had founded. Unfortunately, the pilot had problems controlling the aircraft and all the passengers on the flight died when they hit the ground.
Rescuers attended the accident, who, lacking in ethics and morals, took photos of the bodies as a “souvenir” of the fateful event. Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow, indicated that she lived in fear that these photos would appear on the internet and that her other two daughters would see them.
Because of this, the basketball player’s widow and Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also perished in the accident, decided to sue Los Angeles County, since the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department personnel invaded the privacy of the victims and the plaintiffs, who were caused emotional stress by learning of the existence of the photographs.
After several hours of deliberation and a unanimous verdict, Vanessa and Chester won their trial, where the county was ordered to pay them $31 million in damages, including $16 million for Kobe’s widow and $15 million for Chris Chester. .
According to the information reported in the trial, first aid personnel showed the images of the victims to people unrelated to the case, while a police officer sent these photos to one of his friends. Although Los Angeles County claimed that these were never made public, there was no justification for the jurors.
Two years after this unfortunate accident and irreparable loss, it has been considered fair to respect the deceased and to take care of the image and integrity of their family and relatives.
It is worth mentioning that, according to the United States Transportation Safety Commission, the pilot of the aircraft was responsible for the accident, since he made a mistake when passing through thick fog.