A fire captain went rogue to photograph Kobe Bryant helicopter crash site, a high-ranking fire chief testified

• The acting LA County fire chief said one of his staff went rogue the day of the Kobe crash.
• LACFD chief Anthony Marrone said he never ordered his staff to take photos of remains.

A Los Angeles County fire chief poured cold water on the testimony of one of his former staff members, who had taken dozens of photos of remains at the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash site and argued that he was ordered to do so.

Acting LACFD fire chief Anthony Marrone took the stand during the ninth day of Vanessa Bryant and Chris Chester's joint trial against LA County for graphic photos that first responders took and shared of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, daughter Gianna Bryant, Sarah and Payton Chester, and seven others.

During his testimony, Marrone said that on the morning of the crash, he was stationed at the Inglewood Fire Station, catching up on work as he was notified about the crash. He added that retired LACFD Fire Captain and Safety Officer Brian Jordan came into the station on his day off and told him, "I'm gonna go to that brushfire," referring to the resulting fire from the helicopter crash.

By 11:05 a.m., Jordan was at the scene and had added himself as incident staff.

At the scene, Jordan previously testified that he took somewhere between 25 to 30 photos. Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy Doug Johnson, the first cop on the scene, said in an internal interview played in court that when Jordan arrived on scene, he asked him to show him "where the bodies are at."

Marrone testified that he never asked Jordan to take photos of human remains at the crash scene, calling the photos "inappropriate." He also denied ordering fire captain Arlin Kahan to take photos of human remains – one photo which included a torso partially covered by a blanket – the following day.

"Captain Brian Jordan tarnished his dignity that day," Marrone, unflinching, testified. He said he was concerned about the fact that Jordan would later turn in a county-issued laptop to investigators that was missing a hard drive.

Marrone said he had arrived to the command post by 12:50 p.m., and by 2 p.m., both the brushfire and magnesium fire had been extinguished. He maintained that there was a general purpose for site photography to capture the general conditions of the scene for the command post at the base of the mountain, but not to focus on human remains.

Last week, both Jordan and Kahan testified that they were ordered to take photos. Marrone told jurors on Monday that his instruction to LACFD fire officials on scene was "for everyone to be sensitive with photography that they took," partially because he had learned that Kobe Bryant might have been one of the victims as he relayed the instruction.

During his explosive testimony last week, Jordan abruptly left the stand three separate times and suggested he was being framed due to "false allegations." While under an internal investigation, he retired early, citing his mental health.

In September 2020, Vanessa Bryant sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the county's fire department, the county as a whole, and eight officers in the wake of reports that first responders took and shared photos of the January 2020 crash site.

Marrone also criticized LACFD Public Information Officer Tony Imbrenda for looking at the crash site photos at a gala a month after the crash, thanking the private citizen who reported him.

"I thanked her for having the courage, and I apologized," Marrone said.