Posted on 12/19/2003 1:29:59 PM PST by Smogger
EAGLE, Colo. -- In an embarrassing admission, the man prosecuting Kobe Bryant said Friday that someone in his office ordered T-shirts that mock the NBA star, including one carrying the words: "I'm not a rapist; I'm just a cheater."
Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert also said he and fellow Bryant prosecutor Greg Crittenden were each given one of the shirts by "an unknown source."
Hurlbert said he immediately disposed of the shirt and Crittenden did so later. Neither wore the shirt, the prosecutor said in a prepared statement.
Hurlbert said "office support staff" had ordered the shirts without his knowledge or authorization -- something he didn't know in October when his office denied any involvement in ordering the shirts -- and that he had taken unspecified action to "address this matter."
He said no money was paid for the shirts.
The issue came up during a pretrial hearing Friday to determine, among other things, what evidence will be allowed at trial. Defense attorney Pamela Mackey called the shirts inflammatory and derogatory, and asked for an investigation. The judge, however, told prosecutors to supply details to the defense by Jan. 5 -- including who is involved.
Last week, Bryant's attorneys asked the judge to help them find out whether sheriff's deputies or prosecution employees had ordered the shirts, accusing the investigating agencies of bias. Mackey mentioned bias again in open court Friday, but did not elaborate.
Bryant, 25, is charged with attacking a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort last June. He has said the two had consensual sex.
Officials with the Eagle County sheriff's office have said a company called hangmantees.com gave the office two black T-shirts with a Bryant theme on Oct. 9, the first day of his preliminary hearing.
One has Bryant's No. 8 on the back with the words, "I'm not a rapist; I'm just a cheater." The other lists the costs of Bryant's trip to Eagle County and ends with, "Not bringing your wife to Colorado with you -- priceless.''
Mackey said the shirts have been characterized as racist and "invocative of Klan lynching."
Hurlbert disagreed.
"The shirts may be inappropriate, but they are certainly not racist," he said in the statement. He called the shirts a "peripheral issue that has diverted attention away from the actual issue of the sexual assault charges."
If the accuser's psychiatric incidents are allowed, this "trial" is over.
Did she report where to order a dozen?
What kind of sleazy office is the prosecutor running, if his people don't realize that these t-shirts are inflammatory and borderline racist?
Of course, the cops started it, so one has to wonder what kind of people populate the justice system in this lily-white community.
Mackey, what a drama queen.
However, I DO wonder what's "racist" or "evocative of Klan lynchings" about the T-shirt words as they appear above.
Leni
Well let's see the most likely reason a black man would be lynched in the late 19th century, early 20th century was an allegation that he raped a white woman.
Kobe is accused of raping a white woman.
Since rape isn't a capital crime in the anywhere in the US, it stands to reason that if you buy a T-Shirt from a website called hangkobe, and it depicts a stickman hanging from a noose on one side, and Kobe Bryant's name on the other, you are suggesting that he should be lynched. Paticulalry if your a law enforcement officer or officer of the court you know full well what the penalties are for rape.
Your ignorance of the history of lynchings in this country and their justifications is astounding.
The part about the hanging nooses was not contained in what I read in the post above.
My history education was pretty good, thank you. Much better than your manners.
Leni
However, I DO wonder what's "racist" or "evocative of Klan lynchings" about the T-shirt words as they appear above.
and it depicts a stickman hanging from a noose on one side, and Kobe Bryant's name on the other, you are suggesting that he should be lynched.
Apparently you haven't read the article that you posted.
There's little doubt that the motivations behind these t-shirts evokes lynchings of blacks for raping white women, and it ought to be a point of shame for law enforcement in Eagle County.
October, when the sheriff's office ordered a box of them.
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