Los Angeles County has approved $2.5 million as compensation for the relatives of the people who died in the chopper crash that involved NBA legend Kobe Bryant. The LAC Board of Supervisors approved the settlement amounts for the Mauser and Altobelli families. The families were thought to have faced emotional distress because of accusations that LAC Sheriff’s Department deputies shared photographs of the accident scene. The above-mentioned settlement amount will be divided in half, which means that each of the families will get $1.25 million.
Widow of Kobe Bryant Vanessa agreed to settle on a June 2021 wrongful death case against IEX Helicopters in an arrangement where the said settlement amount would be kept private.
There is a lawsuit in progress from Vanessa Bryant against LAC that is like the one that the other surviving families filed. Vanessa Bryant and her relatives experienced emotional distress as they found out about those alleged photographs from Sheriff’s deputies. Consequently, Vanessa Bryant charged the Sheriff’s Department with civil rights violations, violating privacy, and negligence.
According to the lawsuit, as many as eight deputies photographed the dead coaches, kids and parents at the accident site with their personal mobile devices. The lawsuit also stated that they took the photographs to gratify themselves.
Recently, Superior Court Judge Eric C. Taylor ruled that Los Angeles County Sheriff Alejandro Villanueva and Chief of LAC Fire Department Daryl Osby may give their testimonies in this case.
Vanessa Bryant To Not Undergo Psychiatric Evaluation
The Board argued that Bryant should go through the evaluation to help determine the nature of her emotional distress. As per CNN, District Court Judge Charles Eick turned down LAC’s request from October 15, 2021, citing that the evaluation would not be timely.
At the time of writing this blog, the California trial is slated for February next year.