The federal civil case over photos taken at the scene of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash isn’t over, even though a jury last week reached a verdict and awarded millions of dollars in damages to the basketball great's widow.
According to an entry in the court record system Monday, LA County plans to renew its request to dismiss the jury’s decision and financial award because it says the evidence presented at trial failed to meet the legal thresholds required to prove wrongdoing.
The jury found Wednesday that LA County was responsible for the Sheriff’s Department deputies and Fire Department firefighters who took photos of human remains they saw at the crash site and exchanged them for entertainment.
Jurors awarded Vanessa Bryant $16 million. Christopher Chester, who’s wife Sarah and 13-year-old daughter Payton were also killed in the crash, was awarded $15 million.
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“LASD and LACFD did not violate Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” the County’s lawyers argued in the motion first filed Aug. 21. “Defendants respectfully request that the Court grant judgment as a matter of law.”
Pictures: These are the Victims in the Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash
U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter denied that motion, but now the court and attorneys have agreed on a schedule for the County to argue the issue for a second time.
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Vanessa Bryant announced last week that she would donate the jury award to the nonprofit Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, which provides sports education to underserved athletes.
“From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline,'' her attorney Luis Li said in a statement first reported by the L.A. Times.
