Vanessa Bryant’s $16 million verdict in a civil lawsuit against Los Angeles County was reduced by $1 million after a jury found an error.
Bryant said after a jury unanimously found Los Angeles County liable for damages following the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna. Her case was the first to award $16 million. Her fellow plaintiff, Chris Chester, was awarded her $15 million by the same jury in this case, bringing the total damages up to $31 million.
However, Bryant’s additional $1 million was awarded from error.
“It was the intent of the nine-member jury that both plaintiffs Vanessa Bryant and Christopher Chester should be tried equally,” U.S. District Judge John F. Walter said Friday of USA Today’s Brent Said in court through Schrotenbohr.
Bryant agreed to the change on Friday, and her attorney said it was a “legitimate consequence” that she and Chester received the same amount.
Bryant originally filed the lawsuit in September 2020, about eight months after the crash, which also killed Chester’s wife Sarah and daughter Peyton. A group of sheriffs took and shared graphic and gruesome photos from the crash site for no reason, but sheriff Alex his Villanueva continued to cover up the matter until a complaint was filed. I was. After Bryant learned in her court that photos of her husband and her daughter had been leaked, she said she had a panic attack.
Bryant will be awarded $1.5 million instead of $2.5 million by the Sheriff’s Department for past emotional distress. She was awarded $7.5 million for future suffering from her department, and the LA County Fire Department owes a total of $6 million for her emotional suffering.
Bryant said he will donate $15 million to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation. The Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, posthumously renamed in honor of Kobe and Gianna, is dedicated to providing funding and sports programs to underserved athletes.
