Kobe Bryant’s widow can sue Los Angeles sheriff over crash photos

Kobe Bryant's widow can sue Los Angeles County and the sheriff's department over photos deputy sheriffs allegedly took of bodies at the site of a helicopter crash that killed the NBA legend on Jan. 26, a federal judge ruled.

But Judge John F. Walter of the Central District of California said Sheriff Alex Villanueva could not be sued personally for negligence, despite claims by Vanessa Bryant that the sheriff assured her he would keep photographers away from the crash site. The sheriff did not owe a duty of care to Bryant and did not have a special relationship with her simply from his assurance about securing the crash site, the judge wrote in an order issued Monday.

"The connection between his assurance and the deputies' conduct is simply too tenuous to imply a duty," Walter wrote. "If the court were to imply a special relationship under these circumstances, the narrow exception would swallow the general rule and stifle communication between law enforcement officers and victims."

Nine people, including Bryant and his teenage daughter, Gianna, died in a crash into a foggy hillside on the way to a basketball tournament. The lawsuit against Los Angeles County, the sheriff's department and Villanueva was filed in October. Vanessa Bryant also sued the helicopter company, Island Express.

Vanessa Bryant alleges the deputy sheriffs took photos of human remains and shared them with each other on their personal mobile devices. She sued for violation of civil rights, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. Vanessa Bryant v. County of Los Angeles, et al., 2:20-CV-9582 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 19, 2020).

In his order, Walter wrote that the sheriff's department could be sued on federal civil rights claims. Federal lawmakers intended municipalities and local government agencies to be persons, as held by the U.S. Supreme Court in Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), Walter found.

The judge also said he was unconvinced that Villanueva's conduct of instructing his deputies to delete photos instead of tracking the initial dissemination was equal to the situation in the California Court of Appeal decision in Catsouras v. Dept. of California Highway Patrol, Cal. App. 4th 856 (2010), which upheld privacy invasion claims brought by the family of a teen whose mutilated body was photographed by officers following a car crash. Villanueva himself didn't personally share the photos, Walter reasoned.

"The moral blameworthiness of Sheriff Villanueva's conduct is low in comparison to the CHP officers' conduct in Catsouras," Walter wrote. "Although plaintiff claims that Sheriff Villanueva's conduct was a 'self-serving attempt to avoid embarrassment and legal headaches,' Sheriff Villanueva's conduct may have benefited plaintiff by making it less likely that those photos should be disseminated."

Los Angeles County is represented by Miller Barondess LLP. Bryant is represented by Munger Tolles and Olson LLP.

Representatives for the county directed all inquiries to the sheriff's department, which could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Luis Li of Munger Tolles could not be reached for comment.