Los Angeles County agreed on Tuesday to pay $28.85 million to the family of Kobe Bryant, concluding three years of litigation that began after deputies shared graphic photos of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed the Lakers star, his daughter and seven others.
The settlement agreement filed in federal court combines added money for unresolved state law claims with the $15 million a jury already awarded to the basketball star’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, after a trial in federal court last year.
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Bryant’s attorney, Luis Li, said in a statement. “She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”
Mira Hashmall, the lead lawyer representing the county in the case, called the settlement “fair and reasonable,” and said that it resolves “all outstanding issues related to pending legal claims in state court, future claims by the Bryant children, and other costs, with each party responsible for its respective attorneys’ fees.”
Though Hashmall said the Board of Supervisors has already approved the agreement, a federal judge will have to sign off before the settlement is finalized.
In total, the county’s handling of the crash and its aftermath is expected to cost taxpayers just over $51 million in attorney fees, costs, verdicts and settlements paid to four different families.
Keri Blakinger
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