A federal judge has ruled in favor of Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, following a suit over the sharing of graphic photos from the scene of the former NBA superstar’s death.
Vanessa took legal action after four sheriff’s deputies were reported to have shared graphic photos of her late husband’s helicopter crash, an incident that also took the life of her 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers.
Los Angeles County lawyers made an effort to keep the names of the deputies in question private but, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, per Yahoo Sports, U.S District Judge John F. Walter rejected the attempt.
The lawyers argued that releasing the deputies’ names would leave them susceptible to hackers but Walter wrote Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s “promise to publicly release the (internal affairs bureau) report after the conclusion of the investigation undermines Defendants’ purported concern in the disclosure of the limited excerpts at issue here.”
Walter’s decision means the internal affairs report could be added to Vanessa’s lawsuit. The county can appeal the ruling, however.
