Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, west of Los Angeles, California.
His widow, Vanessa Bryant, says she suffered emotional distress when Los Angeles County police and firefighters photographed the crash site and victims before sharing the snaps with others.
"At least 11 employees (of the sheriff, editor's note) and a dozen firefighters shared the photos within 24 hours after the crash", assure Ms. Bryant's lawyers in court documents.
"Over the next few weeks, one (sheriff's) officer showed photos of (human) remains at a bar, another sent photos to a group of video game friends and (firefighters) posted photos at an awards gala," they wrote.
Los Angeles County attorneys do not dispute that the photos were taken but say they were never made public and have since been deleted.
"The county has worked tirelessly to prevent its photos of the crash site from being made public," said one of the attorneys, Mira Hashmall.
“More than two and a half years later, none of the county photos have appeared in the media, none can be found online, and the plaintiffs admit they have never seen them,” she added.
Vanessa Bryant's complaint was associated with that of Chris Chester, whose wife and 13-year-old daughter were also killed in the crash.
A jury of ten people was selected on Wednesday before the start of the debates, scheduled for the afternoon.
Other families of victims were awarded $2.5 million in compensation last year in the same case.
An investigation had concluded that the pilot of the helicopter was responsible for the accident, an "error in judgement" having led to his "disorientation" in the middle of thick fog.
The death of Kobe Bryant at the age of 41 caused great emotion around the world.
In 20 years, Kobe Bryant had become an emblematic player for the Los Angeles Lakers.
He had won five NBA championship titles and was named the league's best player in 2007-2008.
He had retired in 2016.
© 2022 AFP