Judge rules that Vanessa Bryant and others do not have to undergo psychiatric evaluation in lawsuit against L.A. County. (Photo by Rich Fury/WireImage)
Last month, LA County filed a motion in the lawsuit against them. They requested that Vanessa Bryant, as well as the others that were involved in the lawsuit, undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if they suffered emotional distress from the helicopter crash the claimed the lives of their family members. Or if they suffered emotional distress from the leak of the alleged photos that were taken by employees at the crash site.
According to CNN, Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick denied the county’s request for the psychiatric evaluation for those involved in the lawsuit and said that it would be “untimely.”
Skip Miller, outside counsel for the county responded and said, “The fact remains that no crash site photos taken by first responders have ever been publicly disseminated, as Ms. Bryant confirmed in her deposition. We totally sympathize with the enormous loss she has suffered. But as a legal matter, we don’t believe she could be harmed by something that didn’t occur.”
During their argument, the county stated that the plaintiffs “cannot be suffering distress from accident site photos that they have never seen and that were never publicly disseminated.” They further argued that medical involvement would help determine the “existence, extent and cause” of the plaintiffs’ “alleged harm.”
The legal teams for the plaintiffs responded and said “complaint that merely claims damages for emotional distress does not place a party’s mental condition ‘in controversy.'” They added that the county should make the effort to determine someone’s emotional distress with “less intrusive means.”
ABC News also reports that during a deposition last month, Vanessa Bryant said, “Emotional distress means that not only do I have to grieve the loss of my husband and child, but for the rest of my life I’m going to have to fear that these photographs of my husband and child will be leaked.”
As previously reported, Vanessa Bryant, and the family members of the victims that tragically lost their lives in the helicopter crash that took place last January, joined together in a lawsuit against the county after it was alleged photos were taken at the scene. It was alleged that photos were the topic of discussion within the department without any investigative purposes attached to them. It was also alleged that a deputy showed the photos to a woman trying to impress her.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
