(CHERRY HILL, N.J.) — Actor Gary Busey faces several sex offense charges in connection with incidents during a horror fan convention in New Jersey this month, according to police and media reports.
Police responded to a Doubletree Hotel near Philadelphia that was hosting the Monster Mania Convention “for the report of a sex offense,” the Cherry Hill Police Department said in a statement Saturday.
Busey, 78, known for his roles in the films “The Buddy Holly Story” and “Point Break,” was a featured celebrity at the convention, held from Aug. 12 to 14.
On Friday, Cherry Hill detectives charged Busey, of Malibu, California, with two counts of criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree, one count of criminal attempt/criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree, and one count of harassment, police said.
Court records indicate the alleged offenses occurred on the afternoon of Aug. 13.
No further information was provided by police.
ABC News has left messages with the Cherry Hill Police Department seeking further details.
The investigation is ongoing. Police urged anyone with additional information to contact the department.
Representatives of Busey’s did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
ABC News has reached out to the organizers of Monster Mania for comment as well.
(MIAMI) — U.S. authorities in South Florida are stepping up efforts to crackdown on a recent surge in weapons smuggling to Haiti and the Caribbean, according to Homeland Security officials.
An unusual uptick in the number of high-caliber weapons coming out of the U.S. is believed to be connected with spikes in violence driven by transnational criminal organizations.
“It’s been alarming and disturbing to see the spike of violence coincide with a spike in weapons trafficking out of Miami towards Haiti,” Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Miami, told ABC News.
HSI is actively pursuing dozens of open investigations in the region related to smuggling. Officials are hesitant to release exact numbers and specifics to avoid compromising prosecutions.
“We will push these investigations as far as we can,” Salisbury said. “It’s not just the people buying guns, it’s not just the people shipping guns — we will go after and, if we can, prosecute the individuals who are receiving the guns out of these countries. That does include both trying to extradite them back to the United States in some cases and working our foreign offices and our foreign counterparts to help prosecute them down in these countries.”
The enforcement crackdown has been coordinated through multiple federal agencies that are part of specialized teams including Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of Commerce.
One area of particular focus is the Miami river, home to one of the most unique ports of entry in the United States due to the distance it spans into the interior of the United States.
The Haitian freighters that dock along the 3-4 mile stretch of river are different than the hyper-organized container ships typically seen at large ports. These smaller vessels that dock along the Miami river are more like giant tugboats. Individual packages are often loaded by hand, making it a prime situation for smuggling.
“We’re not going to tolerate this activity,” Salisbury said. “We’re not going to let South Florida willingly be a launching pad for weapons heading down to these countries.”
Last month marked one year since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse which led to a scourge of gang violence that persists today.
Hurricane season, which runs from June to November in the Caribbean, also threatens to further destabilized the island nation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecasted an increased likelihood of tropical storms turning into major hurricanes.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was searched in August by FBI agents as part of what the Justice Department said is a criminal investigation into alleged classified documents taken with him when he left the White House.
The unprecedented operation represented a significant step in the investigation, according to outside law enforcement experts.
Court papers in the case show the search was related to possible violations of criminal statutes, including one under the Espionage Act. Trump has said he did nothing wrong.
It isn’t the only legal issue in which he is involved. He or his businesses are at the center of various lawsuits, civil and criminal cases across the country. They deny wrongdoing and argue in response that are victims of overzealous prosecutors or political persecution.
Trump, who is openly teasing another bid for the presidency, has contended Democrats want to keep him from regaining the White House.
The allegations are serious: In New York, for example, the state attorney general is probing suspected financial fraud by the Trump Organization while a district attorney in Georgia investigates the former president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Meanwhile, a House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has focused on what it says was Trump’s sophisticated, multi-step plan to illegally remain in power, including inciting his followers to riot that day as Congress gathered.
Here is a recap of the major ongoing investigations involving Trump.
Probe of Trump’s handling of White House records
As ABC News reported in May, the Justice Department opened a grand jury investigation related to Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents following the revelation that he had brought boxes of documents with him to his Mar-a-Lago estate when he left the White House in January 2021.
On Aug. 8, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago and appeared to seize 27 boxes — including sets of documents of various classifications ranging from confidential to top secret and more — according to unsealed court documents.
A redacted copy of the search warrant and related papers indicates that among the potential crimes the DOJ is investigating one could be a violation of part of the Espionage Act involving the gathering, transmitting or loss of defense information.
The other two areas of DOJ concern are 18 USC 2071, which involves any federal government employee who willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies or destroys public records; and 18 USC 1519, obstruction of justice.
Trump has been calling for the affidavit supporting the search warrant to be released unredacted but his attorneys have not taken any action asking the judge to release the affidavit. A group of media companies, including ABC News, have gone to court asking for the release of the affidavit, or a redacted version of the affidavit. They cite the high public interest in the search. The DOJ opposes making the document public, stating it would compromise the integrity of the ongoing investigation. A judge has signaled he may order portions unsealed with DOJ redactions.
In a statement, Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich contended that the documents seized by FBI agents were declassified and played down the items that were taken as “the President’s picture books” and “a ‘hand written note.”
“This raid of President Trump’s home was not just unprecedented, but unnecessary … This is outrageous,” Budowich said.
Jan. 6 congressional investigation
The 11-member House panel, formed last year, held eight public hearings this summer on the findings of their year-long, continuing investigation into what led to the Capitol insurrection and what Trump knew about it and did and did not do before and during the rioting.
The special committee’s hearings placed Trump at the center of what they described as an “attempted coup.” Witness testimony ranged from former Trump White House staffers — including Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner — to election administrators who testified about Trump’s actions and state of mind.
Trump, the committee argued, was well aware of the fact that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden but still heavily pressured the DOJ, local officials and Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results — and he understood the threat of violence on Jan. 6 when he encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol.
The committee, seven Democrats as well as two Republicans who will leave Congress in 2023, will reconvene in September as evidence collection continues after, they have said, a deluge of information was sent to them in the wake of their hearings in June and July.
Trump has continually worked to discredit their investigation as the “Unselect Committee” made up of “highly partisan” lawmakers
Manhattan district attorney investigation
The Manhattan district attorney has been investigating whether Trump or his family business, the Trump Organization, misrepresented the value of his assets to obtain loans or tax advantages.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg took over the long-running probe from former Manhattan DA Cy Vance in January. But since then, two high-profile prosecutors on the case resigned and a grand jury expired without issuing any indictments. Bragg said in April the investigation was continuing and that his office was “exploring evidence not previously explored.”
The investigation has led to charges of tax fraud against Allen Weisselberg, the longtime CFO of the Trump Organization. He initially pleaded not guilty, but subsequently pleaded guilty to 15 counts in total — including grand larceny and tax fraud — and agreed to testify against the Trump Organization when the company goes on trial in connection with an alleged compensation scheme beginning in October.
Weisselberg will serve five months in prison, be under supervision for five years and pay a $1.94 million penalty. His plea agreement does not require him to testify against Donald Trump or other members of the Trump family.
New York state attorney general investigation
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether to bring a civil lawsuit against Trump and his business for potential financial fraud. James launched her probe after Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime former personal attorney (whom Trump has since dismissed as a “fraudster”), testified before Congress that Trump inflated and deflated his assets when it was financially beneficial for him.
Trump filed a lawsuit against James, a Democrat, claiming she was targeting him out of political animus. But a judge struck down his argument in May, allowing James’ investigation to continue.
Trump, his daughter Ivanka and his son Donald Jr. have all been deposed in the probe. During Trump’s questioning under oath earlier this month, he cited his Fifth Amendment protection against being made to testify against himself.
Trump has called James “racist” and said her work was part of a “Banana Republic.”
Georgia criminal investigation
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched a criminal investigation in 2021 after a phone call was released showing Trump tried to pressure Georgia election officials to find enough votes to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
Willis has convened a special grand jury to investigate Trump’s actions. The grand jury will meet for up to a year and has already issued subpoenas to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, though it does not have the ability to return an indictment and can only make recommendations.
Another grand jury would need to be convened in order to bring forward any charges.
Trump responded to the formation of the grand jury by criticizing Willis as a “radical left Democrat” and doubling down that his call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find the votes was “perfect.”
Giuliani is one target of the probe. He appeared before the grand jury in August.
Westchester district attorney investigation
News broke in the fall of last year that the Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah opened a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization’s golf course in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization said at the time the probe was a continuation of a “witch hunt” against Trump.
E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit
E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle columnist, sued Trump in 2019 for defamation after he denied her rape allegation. The former president asserts he has never met her and claimed Carroll made up her account to sell a book.
The trial is set to begin in February, Judge Lewis Kaplan recently wrote in a scheduling order. Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan has told ABC News the parties are “actively engaged in document discovery, with depositions to follow, and Judge Kaplan has ordered that discovery must be completed by the middle of November 2022.”
Trump attempted to countersue Carroll on the grounds that her defamation suit was baseless, but his effort was rejected by Kaplan in March.
Michael Cohen damages lawsuit
Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, is claiming Trump retaliated against him for writing a tell-all memoir. In his lawsuit, Cohen alleged he was sent back to federal prison and put in solitary confinement for 16 days as punishment.
His lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court in December, seeks damages for “extreme physical and emotional harm” and violations of his First Amendment rights. Trump filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April, arguing he’s shielded by presidential immunity.
A judge in Manhattan heard arguments in the case earlier this month, Cohen’s attorney Jeffrey Levine wrote on Twitter.
(NEW YORK) — Back to school means back-to-school lunches, but this year they’re costing more with food prices increasing nationwide.
Pandemic relief funds that ensured free meals for all kids ran out in June and school nutritionists are blaming higher costs on inflation, supply chain problems and the lasting effects of the pandemic.
The national school lunch program serves 29.7 million children daily and, of those lunches, 20.2 million are free as of 2021, according to the Education Data Initiative”
“We know that families are struggling right now,” said Willow Kriegel, director of nutrition services for the West Des Moines Community Schools in Iowa. “Gas prices are high and food costs. We know that things are more expensive.”
Kriegel said that her school district had to raise prices by 25 cents per meal. While raising the costs helps somewhat, Kriegel said it’s still not enough to break even.
In Kriegel’s district alone, she said cafeterias are $109,000 in school meal debt.
To help counteract the growing debt, Kriegel said she applied for nine out of her 13 schools to get free and reduced lunches. Those requests were granted, but Kriegel said she knows many other schools aren’t as lucky.
Overall, the national public school lunch debt sits at $262 million a year. Still, a million-and-half students pay full price for lunches they can’t afford, according to the Education Data Initiative.
“I was really waiting for, you know, our legislators to come through and extend the free meals for all students, at least for one more year, while we’re all struggling.” said Kriegel who was president of the Iowa School Nutrition Association last year.
Congress increased federal reimbursements for lunches this school year with the Keep Kids Fed Act, which passed in June and provided 40 cents per lunch and 15 cents per breakfast.
But that extra funding is not enough to bring schools back to the Summer Food Service Program reimbursement rates as during the pandemic, said Diane Pratt-Heavner with the School Nutrition Association.
Alternative lunches, shaming over meal debt can have negative impacts on students’ psyches, experts say
“Even even with additional assistance from Congress, which we’re grateful for, schools will still see a slight drop in federal reimbursements,” said Pratt-Heavner.
Kriegel, in Iowa, said her school is facing staffing shortages and she and other managers are having to cook food themselves. Kriegel said her biggest concern is that she won’t be able to offer students the options and nutritious food that goes beyond state and national requirements.
“I treat them all like they’re my own little 5-year-old,” said Kriegel.
Kriegel’s daughter is starting school this fall and Kriegel says her daughter Olivia knows she’s not going to be a lunch-box kid.
But feeding kids can be a challenge when shipments are delayed.
“You know, when we make a menu change, it’s not as easy as just going to the store and buying a different chicken product,” said Kriegel.
“We spend hours a day extra hunting for products and getting outages and shortages and trying to adjust our menus and then that changes. It’s like a ripple effect.”
“School meal program budgets have very limited amount of funds to use for preparing and serving school meals,” said Pratt-Heavner.
She said taking on school lunch debt can limit nutritionists’ options and keep them from offering more choices to picky kids.
“We’re really trying to get out the word to families. Even if you don’t think you are eligible, go ahead and apply for free or reduced price meals,” said Pratt-Heavner.
Delaware has the highest average school lunch debt per student at $188.49. It also has one of the highest number of schools who belong to Community Lunch Programs, which makes meals free for entire schools.
Aimee Beam with the state’s School Nutrition Programs said Delaware is looking at various ways to reduce that debt. She said that school districts are using money from their school nutrition account to waive the cost of their reduced price breakfast and breakfast.
“The students that would normally have to pay up to 30 cents for breakfast won’t have to pay anything, so that can eliminate the potential for the debt in that area,” said Beam.
“Our biggest concern is the supply chain issues; to get the product that we need to serve the compliant meals,” said Beam.
Beam said the most important thing is to remind parents to fill out their meal eligibility form so that students won’t have to go into debt, and schools can afford to feed the children.
“No child should have to worry about whether mom and dad completed an application or put money on their lunch account,” said Pratt-Heavner.
(NEW YORK) — Officials at Yellowstone National Park discovered what appeared to be part of a human foot in a shoe in one of the deepest hot springs in the park.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when a park employee discovered part of a foot in a shoe floating in the Abyss Pool which is located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin in the southern part of Yellowstone National Park.
“Evidence from the investigation thus far suggests that an incident involving one individual likely occurred on the morning of July 31, 2022, at Abyss Pool,” Yellowstone National Park said in a statement. “Currently, the park believes there was no foul play.”
It is not clear who the foot belonged to but the park suggested that there may have been a death linked to the spare body part that was found though this has not been confirmed by Yellowstone or any authorities.
The Abyss Pool has a depth of more than 50 feet and, according to Yellowstone National Park, is one of the deepest hot springs in the park with an average approximate temperature of 140 degrees.
“Visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in thermal areas and exercise extreme caution around thermal features,” the park said in a statement. “The ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface.”
After the discovery of the appendage, the West Thumb Geyser Basin and parking lot were closed to park visitors but has since been reopened.
An investigation by Yellowstone National Park law enforcement officers is currently ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — As it gets harder to access abortion care because of state laws and restrictions, self-managed abortions may become more common, abortion providers told ABC News.
Self-managed abortions are done by a pregnant person without the formal supervision of a healthcare professional, according to Guttmacher.
In a pre-Roe era, self-managed abortions were often risky — but today, managing an abortion at home can be much safer thanks of the advent of medication abortion pills.
Unwanted pregnancies can be exceedingly distressing. Health providers are raising concerns that some people in situations without access to safe, legal abortion could try any means possible to end a pregnancy, that may or may not be safe or effective, Dr. Deborah Bartz, a gynecologist at Brigham and Women’s in Boston, told ABC News in an interview.
“Now, because of the post-Dobbs situation, we are recognizing that there’s going to be much greater desire for patients to undertake self-managed abortion because they can’t legally access the services that they desperately want and need through the standard health care system,” Bartz said.
Medication abortion isn’t a new practice, first approved by the FDA in 2000, and now allows abortions to be done outside of a medical facility that is safe and effective, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Even prior to the overturn of Roe, the Guttmacher Institute estimated that roughly half of abortions in the U.S. were medication abortions.
While patients in the U.S. need a prescription to obtain misoprostol, one of the drugs used in the FDA-approved medication abortion regimen, the drug can be purchased without a prescription in other countries, including Mexico, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
While there is limited data on how common self-managed abortions are that do not involve a medical provider at all in the U.S., there are reports that it does happen and may be on the rise as states impose barriers to abortion access, according to Shah.
According to a 2014 national survey by the Guttmacher Institute, 1.3% of people obtaining clinical abortions reported having used misoprostol on their own to “bring back” their period or end a pregnancy.
In a 2017 survey of 7,022 women in U.S., 1.4% reported ever attempting to end a pregnancy on their own. The majority of these individuals reported using drugs or substances other than misoprostol, and only 28% successfully ended the pregnancy.
The spectrum of how people self-manage their abortions on their own ranges from effective to ineffective treatments, including herbal treatments, unsafe chemicals, incorrect medication or dangerous physical harm, according to Shah.
Research shows that medication abortions using the abortion pills, that are FDA-approved, mifepristone and misoprostol, are safe and effective. But there is little known about the safety or efficacy of these same medications when obtained and used by going around the regulatory steps in the United States.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in Georgia has denied Sen. Lindsey Graham’s effort to delay his testimony before the Fulton County grand jury in their investigation into former President Trump’s effort to overturn the election in the state.
“Under the circumstances, further delay of Senator Graham’s testimony would greatly compound the overall delay in carrying out the grand jury’s investigation. Further delay thus poses a significant risk of overall hindrance to the grand jury’s investigation, and the Court therefore finds that granting a stay would almost certainly result in material injury to the grand jury and its investigation. Accordingly, this factor weighs against Senator Graham and in favor of the grand jury,” Judge Leigh Martin May wrote on Friday.
Graham is currently scheduled to testify Tuesday but there is still another motion to stay. He had asked the judge to quash the subpoena demanding he appear.
Graham was subpoenaed last month as part of the Fulton County district attorney’s criminal probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis officially launched the investigation in February 2021, sparked in part by the phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he pleaded with him to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
(CHESTERFIELD, S.C.) — Eight students were injured in a school bus accident in South Carolina Friday afternoon, school officials said.
The bus was carrying 24 students from a middle school and elementary school in the Chesterfield County School District when the accident occurred around 4 p.m. in the town of Jefferson, the district said.
Eight students on the bus were transported to the hospital with injuries, the district said.
“The district superintendent, transportation staff, and area principals are working the accident,” school officials said in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — A member of a group of British Islamic State terrorists dubbed “the Beatles” by their hostages was sentenced Friday in U.S. federal court to 8 concurrent life terms for kidnapping and murdering freelance journalist James Foley, as well as participating in the detention and murders of three other Americans.
The sentencing of El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, comes on the eighth anniversary of Foley’s murder which was broadcast across the world in a chilling beheading video by ISIS. Elsheikh was also convicted and sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of journalist Steven Sotloff, human rights activist Kayla Mueller and aid worker Peter Kassig.
Elsheikj, who was captured in Syria in 2018 alongside fellow “Beatle” Alexanda Kotey, was described by prosecutors at his sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as the most notorious, highest-ranking member of ISIS to face trial in the U.S. The foursome had held hostage 26 Westerners and murdered four Americans and several British and Japanese nationals in Syria.
Kotey was sentenced to life in prison in April.
Judge T.S. Ellis on Friday described the crimes as horrendous, noting Elsheikh’s involvement in the sexual abuse of Mueller, his decision to provide false testimony to law enforcement and his role as a leader of the group.
Due to a prior agreement with the United Kingdom, neither Elsheikh nor Kotey faced the death penalty. Another member of the group, Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a drone strike in Syria in 2016. A fourth member, Aine Lesley Davis, was arrested in Turkey and extradited earlier this year to the United Kingdom to face terrorism charges.
Following the sentencing, Elsheikh immediately filed an appeal with the court citing ineffective council. Ellis rebutted to the defense, “I think you have been diligent.”
Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, addressed Elsheikh directly during her testimony Friday, saying, “Love is so much stronger than hatred. I pity you Elsheikh.”
She told reporters Friday that more than 67 U.S. nationals are currently detained and held hostage abroad.
Foley said in an appeal to President Joe Biden, “I urgently call on our President Biden to employ our shrewdest negotiation to quickly bring these innocent Americans home, lest they die in captivity as our sons and daughter did.”
After the death of her son, Foley founded the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which advocates for Americans that have been held hostage abroad and promotes the safety of journalists worldwide.
She added, “Let this sentencing make clear to all who dared to kidnap, torture or kill any American citizen abroad. That U.S. justice will find you wherever you are, and that our government will hold you accountable for your crimes against our citizens.”
Marsha and Carl Mueller, the parents of Kayla Mueller, told reporters Friday that they have not given up looking for their daughter’s remains. The couple is working with private entities to try to find Kayla and learn exactly what happened to their daughter. They told reporters they met with FBI Director Christopher Wray who told them, “we are not going to stop until we find Kayla.”
The 26-year-old was on a humanitarian mission in Turkey in August 2013 when ISIS kidnapped her after she crossed the Syrian border to visit a hospital. In February 2015, U.S. officials confirmed that she died while in ISIS custody.
Elsheikh declined to speak at Friday’s sentencing. Marsha Mueller told reporters, “I was hoping he would be but I wasn’t shocked that he is going to appeal.”
Carl Mueller said of Elsheikh, “He’s obviously cold with no remorse throughout the whole trial and I still think he believes he was doing the right thing.”
Both families said they met with Kotey. Marsha Mueller told reporters Kotey” did articulate some remorse” and that she was grateful for that.
Foley stressed the need for the government to act swiftly in cases in cases where Americans are held, to avoid making the process of bringing them home more complicated.
Carl Mueller had tough words for the Obama administration who he said had “every opportunity to bring [Kayla] home” during the 18 months she was reportedly held captive.
“They definitely have learned their lesson and our children was the cost of that and hopefully, in the future, our government will do like so many others did, and get their people home. Not leave them in there for 18 months.”
(LOS ANGELES) — An emotional Vanessa Bryant took the stand Friday in her invasion of privacy trial over photos taken at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter.
Bryant filed a lawsuit several months after the 2020 crash against Los Angeles County, alleging that first responders took graphic photos of human remains at the scene as “souvenirs” and shared them with others. She is claiming she suffered emotional distress and is suing for an undisclosed amount of damages for negligence and invasion of privacy.
Bryant, the final plaintiffs’ witness, was overcome with emotion in the Los Angeles federal courtroom on Friday as she shared her fear and anxiety over the photos.
“I never had a panic attack before this,” she told the jury.
Bryant said she learned from a Los Angeles Times report that deputies had taken photos of the crash site. She said she lives in fear every day that they could be leaked and wants “justice for my husband and my daughter.”
Kobe Bryant and their daughter, Gianna, were headed to a basketball game at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks along with others connected to the basketball program on Jan. 26, 2020, when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in Calabasas. All nine people on board, including the pilot, were killed.
Orange County financial adviser Chris Chester is also suing the county over photos taken of his wife and daughter, who were killed in the same crash. In July, U.S. District Judge John Walter decided to consolidate Bryant’s and Chester’s cases into one trial.
Chester took the witness stand on Thursday, telling the jury he was in “disbelief” after hearing reports that deputies and firefighters took and shared photos of his wife, Sarah, and their 13-year-old daughter, Payton.
“It was grief on top of grief,” he said, calling for “justice and accountability.”
LA County maintains that first responders did not share any photos publicly from the scene of the crash. It also attests that an investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that all of the photos were destroyed.
During the trial, which began Aug. 10, the defense has also maintained that the photos have not surfaced online since the tragedy. Multiple county fire and sheriff’s personnel have also testified that they deleted whatever crash-site pictures they had on their cellphones.
Both Bryant’s and Chester’s lawsuits argue that the photos were shared before being deleted by first responders.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who ordered deputies to delete the photos, is also expected to testify on Friday as the first witness for the defense.
ABC News’ Kyla Guilfoil contributed to this report.
