Vanessa Bryant, Los Angeles County make their cases for expert witnesses, including a law enforcement veteran who could testify about LASD 'death books'

• Vanessa Bryant and Los Angeles County's legal team were asked to back up their expert witnesses.
• Bryant's attorney wants to call on former cop Adam Bercovici to testify about "death books."

Attorneys representing Vanessa Bryant and Los Angeles County made their case to the judge as to why they should be able to hear from their specific expert witnesses — with Bryant's team aiming to include the testimony of a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who claims to have seen law enforcement "death books."

Parties in the case disclosed witness lists last week and also asked the court to consider a list of expert witnesses. On Sunday, attorneys submitted additional proof backing up their expert witnesses alongside reports written by the experts themselves.

In September 2020, Vanessa Bryant sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the county, and eight officers in the wake of reports that first responders took and shared photos of the January 2020 crash site, where Gianna and Kobe Bryant and seven others were killed.

Bryant accused the first responders of "negligence" and "intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of her right to privacy." She is suing for undisclosed damages.

US District Judge John F. Walter asked Bryant's team to provide further information about Adam Bercovici, who worked in law enforcement in Southern California for thirty years.

In court documents filed on Sunday, Bercovici, in his expert report, argued that between taking photos at the helicopter crash site, the LASD's inquiry into photos taken on personal devices, and LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva's call for staff to delete photos for leniency, the department had botched their inquiry and investigation from start to finish.

Bercovici wrote that as a longtime member of the LAPD, he "personally investigated over one hundred personnel complaints," and he had "never observed a more egregious breach of the standards for an internal investigation."

The former police officer added that he had personally been shown photos of dead victims, often logged as "death books," and argued that the "ghoulish souvenirs" were a cultural issue within Southern California law enforcement ever since Polaroid cameras have been in use.

"One particularly memorable example of this conduct came in 1994, when I was assigned as a supervisor at Operations West Bureau CRASH, I was shown a Polaroid of a deceased Nicole Brown Simpson," Bercovici said in the filings."The photograph depicted the deceased with her throat cut, almost to the point of decapitation."

In March 2020, Villanueva acknowledged the existence of "death books" during his initial comments after the news of the alleged improper photos came out, saying, "that's a macabre idea, but some do that."

Insider reached out to attorneys representing Bryant and the County for comment.

Bryant's attorney also submitted additional information to the judge supporting their desire to call a forensic electronics examiner who intends to analyze the electronic devices of LA County staff.

Los Angeles County was asked to do the same for a forensic medical expert, who they say aims to comb through Bryant's therapy records, and potentially testify that Bryant was not emotionally distressed by photos because they were not seen widely, or by her.

It's unclear what the judge will rule and if these experts will be allowed to testify.

A three-day trial is set to begin on February 22, after Judge Walter rejected Los Angeles County's move to throw out the lawsuit.