Judge Makes Decision on Vanessa Bryant Taking Psych Exam Over Kobe Bryant Crash Photos

Vanessa Bryant will not have to take a psychiatric evaluation as part of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County. A judge decided on Monday to deny the county’s request that Vanessa undergoes an independent medical evaluation to prove that photos of the crash that killed her husband Kobe and their daughter Gianna caused emotional distress, according to PEOPLE. 

In the court filing made on Oct. 15, attorneys for the county said that psychiatric evaluations “are not only relevant but necessary for the County to mount its defense to these claims and to evaluate the existence, extent and nature of Plaintiffs’ alleged emotional injuries.” The judge ruled that such evaluation would be “untimely.”

“Defendants’ position is that, while Plaintiffs have undoubtedly suffered severe distress and trauma from the crash and resulting loss of their loved ones, their distress was not caused by Defendants or any accident site photos that were never publicly disseminated,” the document said. Last year, Vanessa filed a legal complaint against Los Angeles County, the sheriff’s office and fire department, claiming that “publicly disseminated photos from the helicopter crash site” after she requested “that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers.” Last month, Vanessa revealed how she experienced “emotional distress” from the situation. 

“The impact of the helicopter crash was so damaging, I just don’t understand how someone can have no regard for life and compassion, and, instead, choose to take that opportunity to photograph lifeless and helpless individuals for their own sick amusement,” Vanessa said in the deposition, per PEOPLE. “My life will never be the same without my husband and daughter.”

In the same deposition, Vanessa detailed how she found out Kobe and Gianna died. She said an assistant knocked on her door to share the news, and while she was trying to reach her husband, she began receiving social media messages reading “RIP Kobe.” The crash happened on Jan. 26, 2020. 

“She told me that there was an accident and that there were five survivors,” Bryant testified on Oct. 12. “And I asked her if Gianna and Kobe were OK. And she said she wasn’t sure.” Bryant called Kobe, but no one picked up the phone. Vanessa then called her mother, asking her to come over to look after her two youngest children. When Vanessa tried to call Kobe back, she suddenly started getting notifications on her phone, “saying RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe.”