Police Officer Who Allegedly Took Kobe Bryant Crash Scene Photos Also Involved In Excessive Force Scandal
Vanessa Bryant wants to let the jury know in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County that the sheriff’s deputy accused of taking helicopter crash scene photos of Kobe Bryant was involved in another incident that involved excessive force where a handcuffed inmate’s head was allegedly knelt on.
According to TMZ, L.A. County is fighting against that presentation, insisting the other incident has nothing to do with the Bryant case and would prejudice the jury.
Around a year after Kobe, daughter Gigi Bryant, and seven other people tragically died in a helicopter crash in January 2020 there was an incident inside a county jail that involved a deputy named Doug Johnson, who is accused of kneeling on a handcuffed inmate’s head for several minutes.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department allegedly attempted to prevent the details of the incident from going public. Now, L.A. County attorneys are asking a judge to prevent Vanessa Bryant’s attorneys from raising the issue during the trial where she’s suing for defamation and negligence, which was filed back in 2020, and is set to begin in July.
TMZ reports that lawyers for the county reportedly asked Bryant’s legal team if they’d agree not to bring up the other incident but her lawyer refused. That’s when L.A. County filed the motion. A decision by a judge is yet to make a ruling on the matter.
