Vanessa Bryant’s jury reward in Kobe Bryant crash photos trial lowered by $1M after clerical error

Vanessa Bryant’s multi-million dollar payout in her civil trial win against Los Angeles County has been reduced by $1 million after a juror discovered an error on the verdict form. 

Bryant, 40, was initially awarded $16 million in her case last week after a jury unanimously found that deputies and firefighters brought her emotional distress by sharing gruesome photos of her husband, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant ,and their daughter Gianna, who died in a 2020 helicopter crash along with seven others. 

Her fellow plaintiff, Chris Chester, who lost his wife, Sarah, and daughter Payton in the Calabasas, California crash, was awarded $15 million by the same jury in the case, bringing total damages up to $31 million. 

But it was an eagle-eye juror who noticed an error on the verdict form and then informed the court with a jury note explaining that Bryant should be awarded $1.5 million for the emotional distress, not $2.5 million, USA Today reported. 

Bryant was also awarded her $13.5 million in other damages for emotional distress – so the change from the $2.5 million to $1.5 million means that each plaintiff would each be awarded $15 million.

‘It was the nine jurors’ intent that both plaintiffs Vanessa Bryant and Christopher Chester to be awarded equally,’ Judge John Walter told USA Today.

It is now set to be reduced to $15 million, a change Bryant has agreed to, with her attorney Luis Li calling the correction ‘just.’

The jury found that sheriff’s deputies and firefighters who rushed to the scene of the January 2020 helicopter crash unlawfully snapped pictures of the carnage, including the mangled remains of the Lakers legend and their daughter Gianna.

The judge told USA Today that it was unnecessary to call the jury back because of Bryant’s agreement to accept $1 million less.

Bryant’s attorney says that she reportedly still plans to donate the $15 million she won from LA County into a foundation that late husband Kobe Bryant was particularly fond of.

‘Throughout this case, Mrs. Bryant has sought only accountability,’ Li told USA Today. ‘She has never asked for a specific dollar amount and has trusted the jury to do justice.’

The money will all be donated to the Mamba & Mambacita Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating positive impact for underserved athletes and boys and girls in sports.

Bryant has said that she wanted the money to ‘shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy.’

Bryant broke down in tears as the verdict was announced on Wednesday. She was comforted by her daughter Natalia, whose 13-year-old sister Gianna also died in the helicopter crash that killed the 41-year-old basketball superstar.

Her co-defendant Chester, who lost his wife Sarah, 45, and daughter, Payton, 13, in the helicopter crash that killed nine, was awarded $15 million

The jury found that sheriff’s deputies and firefighters who rushed to the scene of the January 2020 smash unlawfully snapped pictures of the carnage, including the mangled remains of the Los Angeles Lakers legend and his daughter.

In a minor victory for the firefighters, the jury found that they do not have a custom or practice of sharing photos of deceased people – only that the fire department lacks sufficient training and policies.

They did conclude, however, that the sheriff’s department has a practice of sharing the pictures from accidents, as well as insufficient training.

Her attorney, Luis Li, released a statement last week:

‘From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline.

‘Those measures are the responsibility of the sheriff’s and fire departments — responsibilities that Mrs. Bryant’s efforts have exposed as woefully deficient, even giving amnesty to the wrongdoers. Mrs. Bryant was courageous and never faltered, even when the County attempted to force her to submit to an involuntary psychiatric examination. She is deeply grateful to Ralph Mendez and Luella Weireter, the good Samaritans who brought to light the decades old practice of taking and sharing photos of accident and crime victims for no legitimate purpose.’

The civil trial in Los Angeles heard how some of these first responders showed the photographs to members of the public – including a bartender – while one deputy texted them to a friend as the pair played video games.

In its defense, Los Angeles County said the pictures have never become public and officials have been diligent in efforts to scrub them from devices.

‘To claim privacy and then put all these details in public — it defies logic,’ said Mira Hashmall, a lawyer for the county, in her closing statement.

‘This is a photographs case but there are no photographs.’

But the two-week trial heard how Vanessa Bryant and Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also perished in the crash, live in fear of these photographs surfacing on the internet one day.

An investigation into the crash found the pilot had probably become disorientated after flying the Sikorsky S-76 into fog.

Bryant is widely recognized as one of the greatest basketball players ever, a figure who became the face of his sport during a glittering two decades with the Lakers.

He was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016.