![]() ![]() ![]() In cross-examination, Mira Hamshall, lead outside counsel for the county in the litigation, pointed out that Mendez hadn't actually seen Cruz's phone.īryant's suit against the county has been combined with that of Orange County financial adviser Chris Chester, who lost wife Sarah and 13-year-old daughter Payton in the tragedy, and makes many of the same allegations.īoth Bryant and Chester contend they suffered emotional distress when county personnel took photos at the crash scene for no legitimate reason and shared them with other law enforcement and members of the public. Jorge Valdez, the head of the sheriff's information bureau, about the complaint. 30, 2020, Mendez testified, he spoke to Capt. The day after sending the complaint, LASD investigators went to the bar and got the surveillance footage showing Cruz taking out his cell phone and calling Gutierrez over to look at something. Mendez - who at the time was expecting the birth of his first daughter - said he "envisioned" himself and his child in the sort of loving relationship that Kobe Bryant had with Gigi. And when he showed pictures of dead bodies, he was betraying the public's trust." Being a deputy, I felt he had the public's trust riding on his shoulders. ![]() "I had to inform the sheriff's department. "I had to get it out," he replied, becoming emotional. Mendez was asked why he made the complaint to the LASD almost immediately after leaving the bar, and even before opening his front door. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Kobe Bryant helicopter crash: LA County supervisors approve $2.5M settlement of 2 suits Jury selection began Wednesday for the trial of Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff’s and fire departments over the leak of graphic photos taken by first responders at the scene of the fatal helicopter crash that killed her husband, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others.Īs he sat in his car in the driveway of his Cerritos home later that night, Mendez logged on to the sheriff's information bureau website and filled out a form, alerting the department that a deputy who had been at the Kobe Bryant crash site was "showing pictures of his decapitated body" to people at the Baja California Bar & Grill. Jury selection begins in Vanessa Bryant's trial over crash scene photos "And I felt I had to do the right thing and tell the sheriff's department what I'd seen." "I was in disbelief, disappointed, disgusted and angry," Mendez said. Mendez testified that he was shocked and upset when Gutierrez said that a sheriff's deputy had just shown him the crash-site photos. "Is that (description) true?" one of Bryant's attorneys asked. Mendez provided a lighter moment Thursday when asked the name of his team. you've gotta be psycho to do that," Gutierrez told jurors, adding that he believed the deputy came into the bar because "he just needed to talk to someone" about what he'd seen at the crash site.īut after Cruz left the bar, the video appears to show Gutierrez excitedly telling at least five people at the bar what he'd seen, and seems to demonstrate in gestures the condition of the victims - including Kobe Bryant's decapitated body.Īmong those that heard Gutierrez's description that night was Rafael Mendez Jr., a member of a local softball team that often stopped at the bar after games. "What type of human being would laugh about human remains. RELATED: Jury selection begins over leaked helicopter crash scene photos Surveillance footage from the bar apparently shows Cruz displaying photos for a wincing Gutierrez and another man, and making gestures as if mimicking the catastrophic injuries suffered by the victims.Īsked if Cruz was laughing while showing the pictures, the bartender said he was "100% sure" that the levity apparent on the surveillance video had nothing to do with the cell phone images. Bartender testifies in Kobe Bryant lawsuitĪ bartender told a federal jury Thursday of being shown gruesome cell phone images of Kobe Bryant's remains by an off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy who had been on the scene of the helicopter crash that killed the Lakers star and eight others two days earlier.Īs questioning centered on the images and the bartender's reaction to them, Kobe's widow sobbed and left the seventh-floor courtroom in downtown Los Angeles. ![]()
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