When questioned on the witness stand in regards to the close-up pictures he took along with his cellphone of Kobe Bryant’s physique and people of different victims killed in a 2020 helicopter crash, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Doug Johnson stated he was doing his job.
“I know I didn’t do anything wrong,” Johnson testified, including that he’d do it once more the identical approach.
Johnson’s testimony got here throughout the trial in federal court docket introduced by Vanessa Bryant and Chris Chester, who misplaced his spouse and daughter in the crash. On Wednesday, jurors delivered Bryant and Chester a fast, resounding victory, ordering L.A. County to pay them $31 million for the misery sheriff’s deputies and firefighters attributable to taking and sharing graphic pictures of the crash that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 others.
The certainty Johnson expressed in the righteousness of his actions put him in line with some higher-ranking sheriff’s officers who additionally testified, however at odds with others.
A captain who supervised Johnson on the time testified that solely the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aircraft crashes, and the coroner’s workplace have official causes for taking pictures of plane crashes. Sheriff Alex Villanueva had stated the identical factor in interviews with reporters after the crash, however walked again these feedback beneath oath final week, saying Johnson’s pictures had a objective. Others tried to elucidate to the jury why pictures have been essential.
The conflicting testimony highlights deficiencies in the Sheriff’s Department’s coaching and insurance policies that led to confusion amongst first responders about methods to deal with such an incident.
In reaching its verdict, the jury on Thursday faulted the division for failing to adequately practice deputies and implement insurance policies that may have prevented such conduct and located there was a long-standing drawback of deputies sharing pictures of our bodies with out cause.
The county Fire Department, jurors determined, additionally didn’t have ample coaching and insurance policies.
“It’s not news that the Sheriff’s Department is dysfunctional in a bunch of ways that lead to misconduct because of the failure of management to properly supervise and control misconduct,” stated Inspector General Max Huntsman, who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to supervise the division. “Those findings are completely consistent with my experience on the Sheriff’s Department.”
Huntsman stated his workplace has been making an attempt to analyze gang-like teams of deputies who for many years have been accused of wielding management over division stations and glorifying an aggressive policing fashion.
In the previous, Villanueva has downplayed the problem, saying problems related to the teams are sometimes the results of drunken deputies moving into fights. But the sheriff has additionally taken credit score for addressing the issue with a coverage that prohibits deputies from becoming a member of teams that promote conduct that violates the rights of others. Observers say that provides blended alerts to lower-ranking staff.
“We don’t see appropriate handling of problems at the management level which then leads to lawless and inappropriate conduct by people below the management level,” Huntsman stated.
Those issues and others additionally prompted the California legal professional normal early final 12 months to launch a probe to find out whether or not the Sheriff’s Department has engaged in a sample or apply of unconstitutional policing. The investigation is ongoing.
The huge verdict in the photo-sharing trial underscores the large taxpayer toll of deputy misconduct. In fiscal 12 months 2020-21, L.A. County paid a total of nearly $60 million to resolve lawsuits and different legal claims towards the division.
In the photograph sharing case, Johnson was requested if it ever occurred to him that it was inappropriate to retailer close-ups of human stays on his private cellphone.
“No, sir,” he replied. Then he was requested if he thought-about that it is likely to be towards coverage. “No sir,” Johnson stated. “It was common practice.”
Johnson testified that one other deputy, Raul Versales, had requested him to take and ship the pictures to the command submit. Versales testified that he by no means made that request. Versales, who has since been promoted to coaching officer, denied Johnson’s declare that the pictures included closeups of human stays.
Versales shared the pictures with Deputy Rafael Mejia, who testified throughout the trial that he despatched the pictures to 2 inexperienced deputies who have been in coaching as a result of he thought that they may have to put in writing a report on the incident.
But neither deputy wrote a report. The pictures weren’t booked into proof. One of the trainees, Joey Cruz, ended up flashing the pictures to a bartender whereas having a drink in Norwalk.
The Sheriff’s Department concluded that Mejia despatched the pictures to individuals who “had no need for them.” But he was by no means disciplined and continues to be charged with coaching new deputies.
“From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline,” Bryant’s legal professional Luis Li stated in an announcement Thursday. “Those measures are the responsibility of the sheriff’s and fire departments — responsibilities that Mrs. Bryant’s efforts have exposed as woefully deficient, even giving amnesty to the wrongdoers.”
Li stated that Bryant plans to donate proceeds from the judgment to a basis named in her husband’s and daughter’s reminiscence. The nonprofit Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation presents sports activities training to underserved athletes.