Los Angeles County officials want Kobe Bryant’s widow to take a psychiatric exam amid a legal battle over leaked photos of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed the retired NBA star.
The county argued in a motion Friday that medical examinations are needed to determine whether Vanessa Bryant’s and other plaintiffs’ emotional distress was caused by the photos or the actual disaster, according to CNN.
Bryant has alleged that county fire and sheriff’s department workers shared grisly pictures they snapped of the Calabasas scene at a bar.
One deputy snapped up to 100 pictures on his phone, and another showed them to a bartender in suburban LA, her suit said.
“The Sheriff’s and Fire Departments’ outrageous actions have caused Mrs. Bryant severe emotional distress and compounded the trauma of losing Kobe and Gianna,” the legal accusation read.
The county argued that plaintiffs “cannot be suffering distress from accident site photos that they have never seen and that were never publicly disseminated,” according to the report.
A hearing on the matter is reportedly scheduled for next month.
The victim’s relatives reached a confidential settlement agreement with the helicopter company involved in the crash this summer.
The retired Lakers star, 41, his daughter Gianna and seven others — Christina Mauser; Payton and Sarah Chester; John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; and pilot Ara Zobayan — died when Bryant’s helicopter collided with a hillside amid dense fog.
The group had been on their way to a youth basketball game in Thousand Oaks.