Vanessa Bryant accidentally awarded $1m extra in Kobe helicopter crash photo lawsuit

Jury meant to set figure at $15m not $16m, federal judge in California case has explained

Vanessa Bryant was accidentally awarded an extra $1m by a jury in the Kobe Bryant crash photos lawsuit, according to a report.

Los Angeles County was initially told it had to pay the basketball great’s widow $16m over graphic photos taken by police and fire officials at the scene of the fatal helicopter crash.

But now it has been reduced to $15m because of a clerical error, Judge John Walter told the court, according to USA Today.

The judge announced that the jury had intended to award both Ms Bryant and fellow plaintiff Christopher Chester $15m in the case.

Ms Bryant agreed to the change and her attorney Luis Li told the judge that the correction was “just”.

The Los Angeles Lakers legend and his daughter Gianna Bryant, as well as seven other victims, died in the crash on 26 January 2020 when the helicopter came down as they flew from Orange County to a basketball tournament.

Mr Chester, an Orange county financial adviser, lost his wife Sarah, and their 13-year-old daughter Payton, in the crash.

Ms Bryant’s lawyers told the jury in the case that in the days after the accident, police and fire officials employed by the county showed off photos of the crash site that included the bodies of the victims.

Both plaintiffs testified that they have never seen the photos but were suing the county for $75m for emotional distress and the threat that they will one day become public.

Also killed in the crash were John Altobelli; his wife, Keri Altobelli; their 14-year-old daughter Alyssa Altobelli; coach Christina Mauser; and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.

The families of Mauser and the Altobellis sued over the photos and settled with Los Angeles County last November for $1.25m each.