A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who was among the many first to reach on the scene of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed Lakers star Kobe Bryant, his teen daughter and 7 others testified Friday that he "did not do something flawed" when he snapped 25 photos on the website, a few of which contained close-up pictures of physique elements, and despatched the photographs to others.
CBS Los Angeles experiences Deputy Doug Johnson testified in federal court docket that he hiked for greater than an hour by means of distant, brush-filled terrain to get to the accident scene. He stated he searched the location for about quarter-hour on the lookout for survivors, moved a handful of hikers away, and taped off the world earlier than snapping images on his cellular phone to "doc'' the crash scene on the request of a deputy on the command publish.
The NBA legend's widow, Vanessa Bryant, and Irvine monetary adviser Chris Chester, who misplaced his spouse and 13-year-old daughter within the crash, are suing the county for unspecified tens of millions of dollars for negligence and invasion of privateness over images taken on the website. The county contends all pictures taken by sheriff's deputies and firefighters have been shortly destroyed, not exist in any kind and by no means entered the general public area.
The plaintiffs say they proceed to undergo emotional misery as a result of chance that photos of their relations' damaged our bodies will someday floor on the web since, as one in every of their attorneys informed the jury this week, "digital lives perpetually.''
Underneath questioning by a lawyer for Bryant, Johnson testified that he texted the 25 images to the command publish deputy and AirDropped them to a county hearth supervisor, who continues to be unidentified.
He claimed he misplaced the telephone the next yr in Las Vegas.
Bryant's and Chester's attorneys contend that after Johnson despatched the images onward, the pictures unfold to at the least 10 others, a few of whom allegedly displayed them for members of the general public.
On the trial's third day, Johnson stated it by no means occurred to him that having loss of life images on his private cellular phone was inappropriate. He testified that it was "frequent observe'' amongst regulation enforcement personnel to share and obtain pictures of useless our bodies.
The deputy informed the jury in downtown Los Angeles that he had used his telephone at crime and accident scenes to take images "1000's of occasions."
Johnson stated deleted all of the images he had taken from the helicopter crash scene, together with a textual content thread with the deputy on the command publish, shortly after he arrived house that night time, he testified.
"I do know I did not do something flawed,'' he stated on the stand, and admitted he did not recall ever studying on the academy that relations have rights concerning the loss of life pictures of family members.
In cross-examination, Johnson stated that "images are probably the most correct and thorough technique to doc'' accident websites.
Bryant left the courtroom earlier than Johnson's testimony, which included descriptions of catastrophic accidents suffered by the victims.
Earlier on Friday, a Los Angeles lady who misplaced two relations within the crash testified that whereas attending the Golden Mike Awards gala on the Hilton Los Angeles/Common Metropolis in February 2020, she noticed former Los Angeles County hearth captain Tony Imbrenda show pictures of stays on his telephone.
In tearful testimony, Luella Weireter stated she misplaced her cousin and the relative's husband within the crash, and was nonetheless grieving when she attended the awards ceremony. She testified that Imbrenda's spouse invited her to have a look at the images of Kobe's corpse on the fireplace captain's telephone.
She additionally stated she heard one other hearth official say that night time that he had "simply checked out Kobe's burnt-up physique and I am about to eat.''
Just a few days later, Weireter drove to a Malibu hearth station to file a criticism.
Testimony will resume on Monday.