![]() ![]() Valdez has been promoted by Villanueva three times since then and is now a chief. Vander Horck confirmed to the jury that their denials were nearly a month after he'd spoken with Valdez about the complaint and nearly a month after Villanueva had ordered the photos be deleted. "There was no order given to delete photographs," Valdez said in the audio recording. "I'm kind of lost," Villanueva replies to LA Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian. Jurors were shown an email from Valdez to Vander Horck that Wednesday night that stated the sheriff and the undersheriff were both aware of the complaint.īryant attorney Luis Li then played audio of an LA Times reporter asking Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Valdez - nearly a month after the crash - what they knew about the complaint and the order by Villanueva to delete the photos. Vander Horck testified that he soon got a call from then-captain of the Sheriff's Information Bureau, Jorge Valdez. But Vander Horck's plan got derailed after he alerted his superiors to the complaint. He immediately assigned his top lieutenant to investigate. He testified that he was notified of the civilian complaint about a deputy showing off photos of Kobe's remains at a bar three days after the crash. "It never crossed my mind," Russell replied.Ĭaptain Matthew Vander Horck was in charge of the LASD Lost Hills station at the time of the January 2020 helicopter crash. "At the time, you didn't think that texting photos of human remains while playing "Call of Duty" - and one of the photos might be Kobe - you didn't think that violated any policy," Bryant's attorney asked Russell. "I have deep remorse," Russell testified of sharing the photos. Russell, a 15-year veteran of the LASD, also received no discipline and later got rid of his phone, although he says it had nothing to do with the lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant. Russell admitted several of his statements in the memo were either false or misleading - a "mistake," he testified. Jackson took Russell through a memo Russell wrote after he was called into the Lost Hills station later that week and ordered to delete the photos. "I had no business doing that," Russell said of sharing the photos with Sanchez. While they were playing, Russell texted Sanchez to ask if he wanted to see the photos. Russell told jurors that the next day, Monday afternoon, he was blowing off steam by playing the video game "Call of Duty" with several people including Deputy Ben Sanchez. "I was not expecting dismembered bodies," Russell said in his deposition, portions of which were shown to the jury. He says Cruz sent him four or five photos the night of the crash and that Cruz warned him they were graphic. While he admitted he asked Cruz for the photos, he testified he only did so to "understand the magnitude" of the crash scene. "I can't explain his actions," Cruz testified.ĭeputy Michael Russell followed Cruz on the witness stand Tuesday. ![]() Moments later the bartender is making a slashing motion at his torso. "I had bad judgment that day."īut on redirect examination, attorney Jennings Lavoie played the clip again and noted that Hashmall had fast forwarded through a portion of the video that shows Cruz zooming in on something stationary, like a photo, then showing it to the bar patron next to him and then to the bartender. Marine, says he showed off photos of Kobe Bryant's body parts to a bartender in Norwalk because he was "overwhelmed and stressed" by the day of the helicopter crash. Chester lost his wife Sarah and daughter Payton in the crash.ĭeputy Joey Cruz, a former U.S. Kobe's widow Vanessa Bryant and Christopher Chester are suing Los Angeles County over the taking and sharing of photos of human remains from the site of the helicopter crash that took nine lives on Jan. LOS ANGELES (KABC) - Jurors in the Kobe Bryant photos trial Tuesday heard from a deputy who shared gruesome images while playing the video game "Call of Duty," another deputy who showed them to a bartender - and a captain who raised alarms about the sheriff's efforts to keep the scandal out of the public eye. Several sheriff's deputies testified how and why they shared graphic images of human remains from the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash site. ![]()
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