LA County attorneys ask for Vanessa Bryant’s therapy records in lawsuit over husband’s crash photos
Attorneys for Los Angeles County requested access to Vanessa Bryant’s therapy records, the latest news in a lawsuit over photos leaked of her late husband and daughter, both of whom died in a helicopter crash early last year.
The county is specifically seeking “all documents relating to or reflecting counseling, therapy, psychotherapy, psychiatry or any other mental health treatment provided to Vanessa Bryant from Jan. 1, 2010, to the present,” according to court documents filed on Friday, NBC News reported.
The county, in its motion, wants the judge overseeing the case to compel Bryant to turn over those records.
“The County continues to have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the enormous grief Ms. Bryant suffered as a result of the tragic helicopter accident,” outside counsel for Los Angeles County and Miller Barondess law firm partner Skip Miller said in a statement.
“Our motion for access to her medical records, however, is a standard request in lawsuits where a plaintiff demands millions of dollars for claims of emotional distress. I have an obligation to take this step to defend the County,” Miller added.
Bryant filed a lawsuit against the county after photos of basketball star Kobe Bryant their daughter Gianna Bryant were leaked online. She alleges that she suffered emotional distress from the circulation of the photos.
She reportedly asked the county’s sheriff not to have officials take photos of the deadly scene.
“And I said: ‘If you can’t bring my husband and baby back, please make sure that no one takes photographs of them. Please secure the area,’” Bryant said during her deposition, according to a report from The New York Times.
“And he said: ‘I will.’ And I said: ‘No, I need you to get on the phone right now and I need you to make sure you secure the area.’”
Los Angeles County also attempted to compel her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, however it was later ruled that would not be required.
The Hill has reached out to the law firm of Bryant’s lawyer for comment.
–Updated on Nov. 7 at 8:07 a.m.
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