On August 10, a trial began that would again stir the most painful feelings of Vanessa Bryant and her family by having to remember what happened after the death of her husband and her daughter Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
Vanessa Bryant
The suffering of having to go through there again has paid off. The athlete’s widow and Chris Chester, husband and father of two other people who also died in the helicopter crash, will receive $31 million, 16 of which are for the Bryant family.
This has been ruled by a Los Angeles jury. The final verdict was shared Wednesday finding the City County Sheriff’s Department and Fire Department guilty of sharing photos of the bodies of Bryant and Chris’s family members, thereby invading their privacy and causing great emotional distress.
The jury ordered LASD to pay Vanessa $10 million and Chris $9 million. While the LAFD was asked to give them $6 million each.
While attorneys for Vanessa and Chris did not comment at the end of the trial, Mira Hashmall, a partner at the Miller Law Firm and an advocate for the other side, thanked the jury for their work.
“While we disagree with the jury’s verdict, we believe the monetary amount required shows that jurors did not believe the evidence presented and for which they were seeking $75 million in emotional distress,” Hashmall said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We still hope that the families of Bryant and Chester continue to grieve over their losses.”
Vanessa Bryant leaving the trial
The judge’s decision comes on the same day that Kobe Bryant Day, better known as Mamba Day, is commemorated by the Los Angeles Lakers.