*Attorneys for Los Angeles County are seeking Vanessa Bryant’s therapy records as part of her lawsuit over the circulation of photos of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash site.
Bryant claims the leak among sheriff’s deputies and others caused her emotional distress, but the County ain’t buying it since the images were not publicly released.Â
As reported by ABC 7: “In documents filed in Los Angeles federal court late Friday, the county argues that the request is necessary to defend itself from the lawsuit and to show that Bryant did not actually suffer from the circulation of photos taken at the site of the crash last year that killed the NBA legend, the couple’s 13-year-old daughter and seven others,” the outlet writes.Â
“The County continues to have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the enormous grief Ms. Bryant suffered as a result of the tragic helicopter accident,” said Skip Miller, outside counsel for L.A. County, in a statement. “Our motion for access to her medical records, however, is a standard request in lawsuits where a plaintiff demands millions of dollars for claims of emotional distress. I have an obligation to take this step to defend the County.”
READ MORE:Â Vanessa Bryant Testifies She Tried to Take Helicopter to Kobe Crash Site on Same Day
Vanessa Bryant filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and its deputies, accusing them of sharing images of the crash site with people who were not involved in the case. Her suit is seeking damages for negligence, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The county of Los Angeles is reportedly trying to force Vanessa and other surviving family members of the fatal helicopter crash to submit to psychiatric examinations to help the county prove a critical point in their legal dispute.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick for the Central District of California has ruled that Vanessa Bryant will not have to undergo a psychiatric evaluation as part of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.
Vanessa Bryant claims in court papers that the crash photos were not only shared among LA County officials but with “attendees at an awards show party, a customer at a Norwalk bar, a city firefighter who was not a county employee, the niece of a sheriff’s deputy and a friend of another deputy,” per the report.Â
“Contrary to Plaintiff’s claims, the photographs did not focus on the remains of any of the victims but were general views of the crash scene that first responders and investigators typically use to assess the damage caused by tragic accidents such as this one,” according to the county’s document. “None of the photographs were sent to anyone outside the County, nor were they publicly disseminated.”
The county believes that any emotional distress came from the loss of family members, not the leaked cell phone photos.
“Mrs. Bryant seeks millions of dollars in damages for severe emotional distress, anxiety and mental anguish allegedly caused by the public dissemination of photographs, which has not happened,” the filing states. “She also seeks damages for Defendants’ allegedly ‘compounding the trauma’ of losing her husband and daughter. Plaintiff claims she is depressed and has trouble sleeping. Her damages claims are premised entirely on these mental and emotional injuries. Plaintiff’s therapy records go directly to her emotional condition, which she has put squarely at issue in this lawsuit.”
The motion is set to be discussed on Nov. 26.
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