Captain is 'tarnished' after taking photos of Kobe Bryant's body

2022-08-23

LA fire chief testifies that the now retired-captain who took photos of Kobe Bryant’s body at the scene of the helicopter crash ‘tarnished his own image’ – and he returned his county-owned laptop WITHOUT its hard drive

Anthony Marrone, the acting LA County fire chief, denied telling officers to take photos of the helicopter crash that killed NBA star Kobe Bryant, and his daughter
Marrone said former captain, Brian Jordan, ‘tarnished’ his own reputation when he returned his county-owned laptop without a hard drive
Vanessa Bryant, 40, is suing LA County sheriff’s office and LA County fire department for invasion of privacy
Vanessa was accompanied by her oldest daughter Natalia, 19, on Monday as she arrived in court for what is expected to be the final week of hearings
She took legal action after photos of the bodies of her husband Kobe, 41, and daughter Gianna, 13, after the fatal helicopter crash were shared by officers
On Monday the court heard from Commander William Jaeger of the sheriff’s office, who testified about the internal investigation into the photo sharing

A Los Angeles fire chief slammed a former captain and said he ‘tarnished’ his image after he took photos of NBA star Kobe Bryant’s body at the helicopter crash site and returned his work laptop without a hard drive.

Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, is suing the LA County fire department and the sheriff’s office for invasion of privacy after the images of the January 2020 crash were shared by officers.

Acting fire chief Anthony Marrone testified on Monday that he never told former Capt. Brian Jordan to take photos of the helicopter crash site that left eight dead, including the NBA star and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, according to Law & Order.

Marrone also admitted to the court that he is ‘alarmed’ he doesn’t know where Capt. Jordan’s hard drive is stored.

‘As you sit here today, you have no idea where the hard drive is?’ Jerry Jackson, an attorney representing Christopher Chester, whose wife and daughter died in the crash, asked Marrone.

‘No I don’t,’ the acting fire chief answered.

Jackson responded, ‘Does that alarm you?’

‘Yes it does,’ Marrone replied.

The investigation persists as the trial is on-going on the NBA legend’s birthday, August 23.

Vanessa Bryant is suing the LA County fire department and the sheriff’s office for invasion of privacy after the images of the January 2020 crash were shared by officers. The crash killed eight people, including Kobe Bryant, and her daughter, Gianna

Acting fire chief Anthony Marrone testified on Monday that he never told former Capt. Brian Jordan, or any other deputies to take photos of the helicopter crash site that left eight dead

Retired Capt. Brian Jordan testified Marrone told him to take photos of the crash site in 2020. Marrone denied these allegations

Marrone was called as a witness in the lawsuit Vanessa Bryant filed against the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department and County Fire for invasion of privacy and negligence after employees circulated images showing the remains of the NBA star and his daughter.

The lawsuit contends first responders, including firefighter and sheriff deputies, shared photographs of Kobe Bryant’s body with a bartender and passed around ‘gratuitous photos of the dead children, parents and coaches.’

Retired fire captain Jordan, who is accused of sharing the photos along Tony Imbrenda and Arlin Kahan, claimed in his testimony last week that Marrone pressured him to ‘take pictures.’

During his heated testimony, Jordan left the stand multiple times and claimed he was being framed. He blamed his early retirement on his mental health, according to Insider.

‘If Capt. Jordan claimed you had said that, that wouldn’t be true, correct,’ Jackson asked Marrone.

Marrone responded, ‘That’s correct. That’s not true.’

He later added, ‘I would like to think the dignity of the victims remains no matter what we do, because they are dignified people… I think Capt. Jordan’s dignity was tarnished.’

The acting chief said he never ordered Jordan to take photos of the bodies at the site of the January 26, 2020 crash, and confirmed the photos were shared with an investigator.

Kahan also testified last week that he was ordered to take photos. Meanwhile. Imbrenda earlier admitted to sharing pictures of the crash at a 2020 awards ceremony.

The investigation over the crash site photos began in February 2020 – after the Los Angeles Times published an article that first responders shared photos of the bodies.

The court on Monday also heard from Commander William Jaeger of the LA County sheriff’s department about the internal investigation into the sharing of the crime scene images.

Jaeger said first responders were unaware of a letter from Vanessa’s lawyer, Luis Li, that demanded evidence from the crash site be preserved and all deputies received new phones they viewed the images on.

Kobe and Gianna died in January 2020 in a helicopter crash that killed six others involved in the 13-year-old’s basketball league

Commander William Jaeger of the LA County sheriff’s department is seen on Monday, testifying about the internal investigation into the sharing of the crime scene images

Fellow public information officer Tony Imbrenda (pictured) admitted to sharing pictures of the crash at a 2020 awards ceremony. He called the photos ‘plutonium

Jordan, Imbrenda, and Kahan’s actions violated the departments code of ethics by distributing information about department business, according to Los Angeles County lawyer, Mira Hashmall.

Hashmall and Marrone reassured the jury that the department trains their leaders to act with good judgement and understand the confidentiality police – combating Vanessa’s claims that the lack of training resulted in deputies circulating the photos among themselves gratuitously.

Meanwhile, Imbrenda is accused of displaying a photo on his phone to a bartender at Baja California Bar and Grill, who then loudly proclaimed to patrons and staff that he’d just seen an image of Kobe Bryant’s body.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva testified on Friday that he didn’t know the hard drive was missing, and that the original scene photographer, Deputy Doug Johnson, had sent the photos to another high-ranking fire officer, according to Law & Crime.

Vanessa claims that the lack of training resulted in deputies circulating the photos among themselves gratuitously

Vanessa walked hand-in-hand with her daughter Natalia to a Los Angeles court on Monday – days after she broke down and sobbed on the stand as she told a jury how she was ‘blindsided’ and ‘betrayed’ by police taking photographs of the bodies of her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna.

With closing arguments in the trial expected this week, after two weeks of hearings, the 40-year-old arrived at court accompanied by her daughter Natalia, a 19-year-old model and student.

She was also flanked by singers Ciara and Monica as they formed a unified front and headed into the court.

Natalia’s 13-year-old sister Gianna was killed alongside their father. Vanessa is also mother to five-year-old Bianka, and Capri Kobe, three.

Vanessa Bryant and her daughter Natalia, 19, arrive in court in Los Angeles on Monday morning

The Bryants are seen with Monica and Ciara on Monday morning accompanied by their legal team as they arrive in court

Vanessa is mother to Kobe’s four children: Gianna, 13, who died with her father in January 2020; Natalia (right), 19; Bianka, 5; and Capri, 3

Bryant is seen in court on Monday, listening to testimony from officials at the LA County sheriff’s office and the fire department

On Friday, Bryant broke down in tears on the stand, testifying that she lives in constant fear that the photographs of the bodies will be leaked on social media after officials shared them around.

Bryant sobbed and gasped for air as she described how she had to run out of her house so that her daughters would not see her crying after reading about the existence of the images, according to the New York Post.

The wife of the late NBA legend said she was breastfeeding her youngest child when she heard the news, and said: ‘I felt like I wanted to run down the block and scream.’

‘I can’t escape my body. I can’t escape what I feel,’ she told the court.

Bryant confessed she suffers severe panic attacks as she fears the graphic images of her dead husband and daughter may one day surface online.

‘I don’t ever want to see my babies in that way,’ she said.

‘Nobody should ever have to see their family that way.’

Bryant told the court that County Sheriff Alex Villanueva – who told her there were no survivors of the crash – didn’t tell her that the scene had been photographed.

She said she was ‘blindsided’ and felt ‘betrayed’.

‘I trusted them. I trusted them not to do these things,’ she said.

Bryant added that she believed officials may have moved the body of her 13-year-old daughter in order to photograph her because of where she was located.

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