Saturday 13 August 2022 01:43 AM Vanessa Bryant weeps as court told how LA firefighter shared photos of Kobe's ... trends now
Kobe Bryant's widow wept in court again on Friday as she heard how photos of her husband and daughter's bodies were shared at an awards gala.
Vanessa Bryant, 40, is suing the Los Angeles County sheriff's office and fire department for invasion of privacy after she discovered that the images were circulating.
Her basketball superstar husband and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020 in Calabasas.
On Friday, Luella Weireter, the wife of a firefighter, explained why she filed an official complaint after seeing the photos shared.
Weireter's cousin Keri Altobelli died in the helicopter crash that killed the Bryants, along with her husband John, a baseball coach, and daughter Alyssa, a basketball teammate of Gianna.
Weireter, a former EMT, said that she attended the gala in February 2020 with her husband.
She said she was shocked to see the photos of the bodies being shared by LA County firefighter Tony Imbrenda, and other firefighters gather round Imbrenda to look at the images in what Weireter said was like a party trick.
Vanessa Bryant, 40, is seen on Friday arriving at the Los Angeles courthouse for her case against the sheriff's office and firefighter
Bryant broke down in tears on Friday as she heard how photos of the bodies were shared at a gala
Tony Imbrenda, a LA County firefighter, is accused of sharing the photos of Kobe and Gianna Bryant's bodies at a February 2020 gala
Bryant filed legal action against LA County firefighters and sheriffs after it emerged they shared photos of her dead husband and daughter's bodies. She is seen on Friday at court
Bryant's case opened on Wednesday, and is expected to last two weeks. She is seen on Friday
Weireter said she heard one of the firefighters say: 'I can't believe I just looked at Kobe's burnt up body and now I'm about to eat.'
Bryant, on hearing the story, lowered her head in her hands and was seen rocking back and forth, crying.
The previous day, Bryant fled the courtroom in tears after a bartender was asked to describe photos he had been shown of the dead bodies.
Bryant became emotional when Victor Gutierrez, a bartender, was asked if he had seen the body of her daughter.
A somber Vanessa Bryant is seen outside the courthouse on Thursday after an emotional day where she heard graphic details of photos of her deceased daughter being shown
Vanessa Bryant leaves court for the day on Thursday, during the trial against Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office and fire department for invasion of privacy
Bryant broke down in tears on Thursday on hearing testimony about photos of her husband and daughter's bodies being shared
Victor Gutierrez, a bartender, told how he was shown photos by a sheriff's deputy two days after the crash
Gutierrez had been describing what he saw in the photos shown by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy.
Luis Li, Bryant's lawyer, in his opening statements on Wednesday played jurors CCTV footage of an off-duty sheriff's deputy drinking at a bar and showing the photos to Gutierrez, who shakes his head in dismay.
The lawyer then showed an image of the men laughing together later.
Li described firefighters looking at the phone photos two weeks later at an awards banquet, and showed the jury an animated chart documenting their spread to nearly 30 people.
On hearing Gutierrez being questioned, Bryant cried, stood up and her attorney asked the presiding judge permission for Bryant to leave the court room.
'You don't have to ask my permission,' the judge said.
Bryant did not return for the remainder of Gutierrez's testimony.
Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. The pair were killed in January 2020 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas
The jurors were shown surveillance clips from the bar on January 28th, 2020 - two days after the crash.
Gutierrez described wincing at the photos and then admitted to telling the condition of the victims' bodies to five sets of people.
One person he recounted the photos to was Ralph Mendez, who later filed a complaint
