Vanessa Bryant has won the case to name four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who took and leaked the gruesome photos of the Kobe Bryant crash site. Via Instagram, the widow of the Los Angeles Lakers icon sent her gratitude to the judge who presided the case.

Vanessa shared screenshots of the Los Angeles Times article by Richard Winton that released the details of the ruling.

 

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A post shared by Vanessa Bryant 🦋 (@vanessabryant)

With the ruling, Vanessa and her attorneys can now add the names of the deputy officers involved in the Kobe investigation in their amended complaint in her civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department led by Alex Villanueva.

Lawyers of the police officers made efforts in trying to conceal the names, noting that they might become targets of hackers. US District Judge John Walter, however, refuted their argument.

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“Although the Court recognizes that this case has been the subject of public scrutiny and media attention and that the Deputy Defendants are legitimately concerned that they will encounter vitriol and social media attacks, such concerns, by themselves, are not sufficient to outweigh the public’s strong interest in access.”

Walter added the defendants' claim isn't consistent with their earlier argument that the photos related to Kobe's death were already erased.

“Moreover, Defendants’ concern that hackers may attempt to seek out and gain access to the individual deputies’ devices to locate any photographs and publish them is totally inconsistent with their position that such photographs no longer exist.”

Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gigi were killed in a tragic helicopter crash, along with seven other people, in Calabasas, California on January 25, 2020.