The names of four Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who are alleged to have shared “unauthorized'' photos taken at the site of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others can be obtained by Vanessa Bryant to be included in her civil rights lawsuit against the county, a federal judge ruled on Monday, KFI reports.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter ruled against county attorneys who argued the deputies' names should remain under seal because releasing them would make their personal information, including addresses, accessible online and possibly make them targets for hackers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The county has four days to appeal.
Bryant's lawsuit alleges Sheriff Alex Villanueva personally assured her that deputies were securing the crash site to ensure her privacy, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“In reality, however, no fewer than eight sheriff's deputies were at the scene snapping cellphone photos of the dead children, parents and coaches,'' the claim states, according to The Times.
