Kobe Bryant crash pictures were shared by LA deputies while playing 'Call of Duty' to DE-STRESS
CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Michael Russell admitted in front of a federal jury on Tuesday, August 16, that he shared graphic photos of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed nine people, including NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, while playing the video game 'Call of Duty' in order to de-stress.
On Day-5 of Kobe's wife Vanessa's civil trial against Los Angeles County, deputies Joey Cruz and Russell were seen taking the stand where Russell revealed, as quoted by Law&Crime, "I have a deep remorse for it, sir." The deputy said that he was alleviating a lot of the stress that he had by playing 'Call of Duty' with his friend and fellow sheriff’s deputy Ben Sanchez and made a mistake by sending Sanchez the photos. While he acknowledged sharing the information, he also admitted his fault in sharing the pictures. He said, "I had no business doing that," as per Business Insider.
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As stated by the report, Russell also admitted that he wrote a three-paragraph internal sheriff’s department memo about the photos that had five false statements. He had said that he had deleted a few photos and only sent two whereas now he said that it was three or four. At that time, he didn't mention that he and Sanchez were playing the video game when he sent the photos.
Russell said that he had made a “callous mistake," while Cruz, who took the stand on Monday, August 15, mentioned that he went to the Baja California Bar and Grill just to destress. And while at the bar, he started "venting" to his close friend, the bartender Victor Gutierrez. Both Cruz and Russell claimed the pictures were meant to help them understand the magnitude of the crash and help them learn how to deal with the accident, as per the report.
Kobe Bryant photo trial
Vanessa filed a federal lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff’s Department after a deputy and firefighter leaked photos from the crash site. As per The Guardian, her attorney, Luis Li, stated that the phone photos shot at the scene by a deputy and a fire captain were "visual gossip" and viewed "for a laugh," serving no official purpose. The attorney argued, "They were shared by deputies playing video games. They were shared repeatedly with people who had absolutely no reason to receive them."