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Less than a week after Vanessa Bryant sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department over claims that deputies shared unauthorized photos of the crash that killed her husband and 13-year-old daughter, California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved legislation on Monday making it a crime.
The law, which will go into effect on January 1, makes it a misdemeanor to take photos for anything other than for official law enforcement purposes. Offenders can be fined up to $1,000.
VANESSA BRYANT SUES LA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT OVER CRASH SITE PHOTOS
Newsom’s latest piece of legislation was prompted by a lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant relating to the Jan. 26 helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, their daughter Gianna and seven other people.
The lawsuit alleges that “no fewer than 8 sheriff's deputies at the crash site, pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches.”
The lawsuit continued to say that several deputies shared the photos with others in the department with no investigative purpose. On one occasion, the lawsuit claims one deputy used the photos to impress a woman at a bar but was overheard by a bartender who alerted the sheriff’s office to the inappropriate behavior.
“The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification," it claims.
VANESSA BRYANT HITS BACK AT LA COUNTY SHERIFF OVER LEBRON JAMES CHALLENGE
Sheriff Alex Villanueva previously told news media that pictures were taken and that he ordered them deleted. The sheriff said the department has a policy against taking and sharing crime scene photos, but it does not apply to accident scenes.
“That was my No. 1 priority, was to make sure those photos no longer exist,” Villanueva told NBC News at the time. “We identified the deputies involved, they came to the station on their own and had admitted they had taken them and they had deleted them. And we’re content that those involved did that.”
But Bryant's lawsuit alleges the sheriff's actions constituted a “cover-up” of the misconduct. The suit claims the photos could still exist.
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Bryant took aim at Villanueva earlier this month in a series of social media posts sharing screenshots of tweets and articles criticizing the official and calling out his department over the photos. She also blasted him for challenging LeBron James to contribute to efforts to find the gunman who shot two Los Angeles County deputies at point-blank range.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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