Saturday 18 June 2022 12:43 PM Vanessa Bryant wants jury to know deputy who 'took photos of Kobe Bryant' ... trends now
A trial involving the Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy accused of taking and sharing helicopter crash scene photos of Kobe Bryant is set to begin next month.
And Vanessa Bryant, the late NBA star's widow, wants the jury to know that the same deputy, Doug Johnson, was also involved in another scandal - one in which he allegedly kneeled on an inmate's neck.
In response, lawyers for the county have asked a judge to block Bryant from alerting the jurors, reported TMZ.
Speaking out: Vanessa Bryant wants a jury to know the sheriff who is accused of sharing crash scene photos from her husband Kobe Bryant's death was also involved in another scandal in which he allegedly kneeled on an inmate's neck; Vanessa pictured in 2021
The Sheriff's Department unsuccessfully tried to keep the kneeling incident under wraps, but a video was leaked to Knock LA.
The county filed documents on Friday calling the separate situation 'entirely unrelated' to the Bryant case.
It's believed that alerting the jurors could significantly affect the direction of the forthcoming case.
Now both the plaintiff and defendants are waiting for a judge to make a decision.
Tense: Lawyers for the county have asked a judge to block Bryant from alerting the jurors to Doug Johnson's other missteps, reported TMZ; Vanessa poses in front of a Philadelphia mural of her late husband and daughter Gigi
The leaked video footage shows someone who appears to be Johnson escorting the inmate, a 24-year-old male, through the jail.
The prisoner, who's locked up for a pending murder case, swings at the officer shortly thereafter.
The man presumed to be Johnson and other officers then work to detain the man before the deputy allegedly places a knee on the inmate's neck for several minutes.
Daddy-daughter bond: Kobe and Gianna sat courtside at an NBA game shortly before their untimely deaths
Back in 2020 graphic photos showing the bodies of Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, just hours after they were killed in a helicopter crash, were passed around by at least 28 police officers and at least a dozen firefighters in bars and at a media awards gala.
