Vanessa Bryant reveals names of deputies who allegedly shared photos of helicopter crash site
CBSN
In 12 caption-less Instagram posts Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant, revealed the names of the four Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies who allegedly took or shared graphic photos of the site of the helicopter crash, which killed the basketball legend and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, as well as seven others in January 2020.
The posts show an amended complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, which names deputies Joey Cruz, Rafael Mejia, Michael Russell, and Raul Versales as the defendants, as well as the Los Angeles County, its sheriff department and fire department. It claims negligence, invasion of privacy, and a violation of the 14th Amendment. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Bryant could obtain the deputies' names. Initially redacted, attorneys for the departments had wanted to keep their names and ranks sealed.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.