Former LA Fire Captain Walks Off Witness Stand 3 Times While Testifying During Kobe Bryant Crash Scene Trial

The lawsuit against the county of Los Angeles filed by Vanessa Bryant has finally gone to trial. At Monday’s hearing, according to CNN, a retired Los Angeles County fire captain left the witness stand several times while being questioned by Bryant’s attorney.

Bryant sued the county in 2020, alleging that she and her family have suffered severe emotional distress after discovering that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies took photographs of the accident scene where her husband, Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and other passengers and pilots crashed and perished. The pictures of the nine victims who died that day in January 2020 were allegedly shared with acquaintances of the first response team that arrived after the deadly crash.

Former Los Angeles County Fire Captain Brian Jordan left the witness stand three times while giving testimony at the trial. He was questioned about whether he took photos of Bryant’s remains as a sheriff’s deputy led him around the crash site. He was also asked if he took pictures of the scene, including the helicopter crash wreckage and the remains of other victims.

As Bryant’s attorney, Luis Li, asked him several questions, Jordan interrupted him as he stood up and exclaimed, “I need a break, I need a break. Sorry, your honor.”

Jordan stated he didn’t remember taking the pictures because he blocked it from his memory after officially retiring early last year. He took a second break after being questioned by another of Bryant’s attorneys.

When asked if he took pictures of body parts before departing the stand again, he said, “The way the whole scene looked, that’s going to haunt me forever, and excuse me cause I’m about to take another break.”

Li brought it to the court’s attention that Jordan met with his attorney each time he left the stand.

Jordan’s attorney, Steven Haney, informed CNN that leaving the witness stand wasn’t about legal issues; instead, it was a reaction to “a medical condition associated with his viewing of the crash scene, and it causes him to suffer trauma.”