Los Angeles County demanded in a court filing Friday that Vanessa Bryant take a independent psychiatric evaluation to prove the leaked photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and daughter caused emotional distress—the latest development in her ongoing suit against the county.
Bryant, 39, sued Los Angeles County and its sheriff’s office last year alleging that photos of the crash that took the lives of her late husband Kobe Bryant and their 13 year-old daughter Gianna were “showed off” by county employees.
The father and daughter died on Jan. 29, 2020 along with seven others as they traveled to a basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks, California, where the 13-year-old was supposed to play.
The civil suit, where Bryant and other family members of the deceased are plaintiff, is seeking tens of millions in damages from the county.
On Friday, the county said it filed the motion because independent exams are “necessary to evaluate the existence, extent and nature of Plaintiffs’ alleged emotional injuries.” The defendants are arguing that the “severe emotional distress” was caused by the crash itself and not the sharing of photos.
“Plaintiffs cannot claim that they are suffering from ongoing depression, anxiety and severe emotional distress and then balk at having to support their claims,” the county said in the motion, adding the exams are “critical to the county’s defense.”
Bryant’s lawyers said the motion was part of the county’s “scorched earth discovery tactics designed to bully Plaintiffs into abandoning their pursuit of accountability.”
“Apparently, in the County’s estimation, top officials should be shielded from providing any testimony, but the victims should not only withstand the emotional toll of a full-day deposition, but also submit to an eight-hour involuntary psychiatric examination simply because they had the audacity to demand accountability…” her lawyers wrote in response.
In the original complaint, Bryant says she expressed concern to the sheriff that the helicopter crash site was unprotected against paparazzi and was assured law enforcement would secure the scene.
“Faced with a scene of unimaginable loss, no fewer than eight sheriff’s deputies at the crash site pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents and coaches,” the suit alleges. “The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
