On Wednesday, the trial began in a federal civil lawsuit filed by Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, who claims photos of the January 2020 crash were shared by county fire and sheriff’s department officials in circumstances unrelated to the investigation. including in a bar.
A former emergency medical technician and wife of a Los Angeles firefighter, Louella Weirether, testified in court Friday that during the Southern California Broadcasting Association’s Golden Mike Awards in February 2020, she saw the Los Angeles County firefighter Angeles Tony Imbrenda to share photos of Bryant’s remains and other images from the crash site with those attending the ceremony.
Many firefighters attended the media event, which also honored the fire department’s public information officers for their work in informing the public about wildfires.
After a small group of people at her table gathered to watch cell phone images, which Weirether described as a party trick, she testified that she saw one firefighter break away from the group, saying, “I can’t believe I just I looked at Kobe’s burned body and now I’m about to eat.”
After that comment, Vanessa Bryant could be seen in the courtroom with her head in her hands, rocking back and forth and crying.
Weireter is a cousin of Kerry Altobelli, who along with her husband John and daughter Alyssa also died in the helicopter crash.
About two weeks after the awards ceremony, Weireter drove to the Malibu County Fire Department and filed a formal complaint with the battalion chief, she testified. That same day, Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone called her to follow up.
On Thursday afternoon, Vanessa Bryant left court during testimony describing photos taken at the scene of the crash. She became emotional when Victor Gutierrez, a bartender, was asked if he had seen her daughter Janna Bryant’s body in the photos. Gutierrez was describing what he saw in the photos shown by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy at a bar at a previous meeting.
Bryant cried, stood up, and her attorney asked presiding Judge Bryant for permission to leave the courtroom.
Bryant did not return for the rest of Gutierrez’s testimony, which continued with a series of videos from the bar where he worked on Jan. 28, 2020 — two days after the crash and a month before the awards ceremony. Gutierrez described how he was shaken by the photos and later admitted that he had told the condition of the victims’ bodies to five groups of people.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks, and witnesses are likely to include Vanessa Bryant and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The lawsuit, which was filed in September 2020, seeks undisclosed damages and claims civil rights violations, negligence, emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
A jury of six women and four men has been selected for the case. They include a nun, someone who works in television production for NBC Universal, a college student, a real estate investor, a pharmaceutical researcher, a computer science professor, and a restaurant host.
Jason Kravarik, Natasha Chen, Amir Vera and Elizabeth Wolff contributed to this report.
Add Comment