A jury has ordered Los Angeles County to pay $31m in damages to Kobe Bryant's widow and a co-plaintiff over graphic photos of the helicopter crash that killed the basketball star.
Sheriff's deputies and firefighters who were at the scene of the crash took pictures, including the remains of the Los Angeles Lakers player and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
They were among nine people who died when their helicopter crashed into a hillside near Los Angeles in January 2020.
The civil trial in Los Angeles heard how some of these first responders showed the photographs to members of the public, including a bartender, while one deputy texted them to a friend as the pair played video games.
In its defence, Los Angeles County said the pictures have never become public and officials have been diligent in efforts to scrub them from devices.
But the two-week trial heard how Kobe Byrant's wife, Vanessa Bryant, and Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter also died in the crash, live in fear of these photographs surfacing on the internet one day.
The pair both sued for emotional damages over the photos, in suits that have been combined.
The county was ordered to pay $16m to Ms Bryant, and $15m to Mr Chester.
Mr Chester's lawyer on Tuesday had called for compensation to be calculated based on the two plaintiffs' respective remaining life expectancies.
He had asked for $40m for 40-year-old Ms Bryant, and $30 million for 48-year-old Mr Chester.
"You can't award too much money for what they went through," said attorney Jerry Jackson.
Ms Bryant's lawyer Craig Lavoie said he was asking for "justice and accountability" for the basketball great, a hero to the city of Los Angeles, and his widow.
"We're here because of intentional conduct - the county violated Ms Bryant and Mr Chester's constitutional rights," Mr Lavoie said, asking the jury to hold the county liable for "the constitutional violations of its employees."
Jurors in downtown Los Angeles reached their verdict after roughly four-and-a-half hours of deliberations.
Relatives of other victims were last year granted $2.5m in compensation over the photo-taking.
An investigation into the crash found the pilot had probably become disorientated after flying the Sikorsky S-76 into fog.
Kobe Bryant is widely recognised as one of the greatest basketball players ever, a figure who became the face of his sport during a glittering two decades with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016.
