Vanessa Bryant awarded $31 million in damages in lawsuit over pics of 2020 helicopter crash

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - A federal jury Wednesday ordered Los Angeles County to pay $31 million in damages over the actions of first-responders who snapped and shared gruesome photos from the scene of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed Laker legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven other people.

The damages were awarded to Bryant's widow, Vanessa, and co-plaintiff Chris Chester, whose wife Sarah and 13-year-old daughter Payton also died in the Jan. 26, 2020, crash on a Calabasas hillside. The jury awarded Bryant $16 million and Chester $15 million.

The defense argued this is "a photo case with no photos," alluding to the fact that the photos that were shared no longer exist.

Jurors, who began deliberations early Monday in downtown Los Angeles, reached their verdict after roughly four and a half hours of deliberations.