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Vanessa Bryant was ordered to submit her personal therapy records following a lawsuit she submitted against Los Angeles County.
© GettyImagesVanessa Bryant, widow of Kobe Bryant, filed a lawsuit for emotional distress after pictures of the crash where her husband and daughter Gianna died were taken and shared by first responders. Bryant is seeking damages for emotional distress and anguish. “The impact of the helicopter crash was so damaging, I just don‘t understand how someone can have no regard for life and compassion, and, instead, choose to take that opportunity to photograph lifeless and helpless individuals for their own sick amusement,“ she said in her deposition.
According to Sheriff Alex Villanueva, first responders did take and share photos with undisclosed personal acquaintances despite that the fact that only the county’s coroners office and investigators were the only ones allowed to do so. Still, the county argues that the emotional distress Bryant is experiencing is due to the family deaths, not due to the sharing and taking of the images.
© GettyImagesThe country filed a motion trying to get access to Bryant’s personal therapy records. Judge Charles Eick approved the motion and asked Bryant to submit records of therapy dating back to 2017. She has to submit these documents by November 29th.
Vanessa Bryant’s attorney criticized this decision, claiming that it is a further attempt to invade Bryant’s privacy. “This effort should be seen for what it is: an attempt to bully Mrs. Bryant into dropping her case to avoid her private therapy records being brandished in open court and reported on by media outlets,” wrote her attorney, Mari Saigal.
© GettyImagesThe attorneys representing L.A. County claim that they weren’t trying to bully Bryant and that this motion was simply to discover the state of Bryant’s mental health, something that is routine in these types of emotional distress cases.
