NEW O.D. SHOCK ON KOBE ACCUSER

New York Post ^ | 7/25/03 | BARRY BORTNICK and DAN MANGAN

[kattracks]

July 25, 2003 -- Months before she overdosed on medication in her parents' home, Kobe Bryant's young accuser reportedly overdosed in her college dorm, it was revealed yesterday.

News of yet another hospitalization could help Bryant's defense team cast doubt on the 19-year-old woman's credibility.

[MHT]

I am very concerned about making this girl out to be a nut because of hospital admission. I have known people who have happy, successful lives, who have had hospital admissions during stress, drug interactions, and even extreme grief reactions. I would trust their words anyday against a young Godlike athlete who lied from the beginning about having an affair (then again, that's only sex....), but a person for whom the rules do not apply.

It's a slippery slope when a person's credibility is immediately undermined with nuances, winks-and-nods, because of earlier "psychiatric" services he or she received. We've come further than than in this society.

What I find more interesting is the new $4-million ring he gave his wife. Gift of love? Bribery? Payback?

[kevao]

I'd give her the benefit of the doubt.

Based on what? Feeling sorry for her? Don't you want to see the evidence first?

[over3Owithabrain]

Agreed again - I know you haven't trashed her. Wish everyone was waiting on the actual evidence.

[StolarStorm]

I was simply expressing my disgust at the attacks on this woman. I haven't seen this kind of electronic lynching since Judge Bork.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Good point time and evidence will tell. Many posters have convicted Kobe and many posters have attacked the accuser. I still live in a society that has a criminal justice system that is still second only to God.

[dennisw]

If a person is emotionally unstable then the rapist is to go free??????????????????

..............................

Sometimes yes. It's up to the courts and the courts sometimes exclude such history. How would you feel if your husband or son was accused of rape by an emotionally unstable woman? Did you want to know your husband's past before you married him?

Plus let's pretend she's called as a witness at some other trial. Witnesses have their credibility shattered all the time by going into their past history.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

If a person claims to be raped, the public should decide and there should be no trial.

Huh?

[Conspiracy Guy]

Hey now I'm a doofy white guy too. But I'm not a doofy white guy attorney so no offense taken.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Good one.

[rolling_stone]

In a rape case, if there is physical evidence of forced sexual intercourse, why on earth would the mental condition of the accuser matter? If there was no evidence, and its "he said-she said", then I am with you. But some people are talking as if a persons past should negate physical evidence. Makes no sense.

All relevant evidence that the judge admits into court (and in some cases that can make the difference) should be evaluated and weighed by the jury, some things will carry more weight and some less...

Credibility is a large part of testimonial evidence, and in a case where there is a lapse of time between the incident and when witnesses can verify the presence of physical evidence, there is the possibility that the physical evidence might have been planted or altered. At that point value of the evidence can be affected by the credibility of those having or collecting the evidence. I am not saying the accuser self inflicted her injuries, only that with a time lag it may be possible. Torn clothing is hard to time date. Blood & DNA evidence in the OJ case was atacked both from a scientific point of view and with the proposition that the evidence was planted by the PD. Chain of custody of evidence is an important factor, and the police can do nothing to preserve a chain of custody until they are aware of the evidence.....

It has been asked several times if there were security cameras in the halls or areas both subjects of the incident might have travelled (before & after the incident) Security camera images may tell a tale one way or the other...I have seen photos of the Lobby of the Cordillero Lodge & Spa and pictures of the hotel rooms at their website and I did not see any cameras. I have not seen any reports from reporters or leaks from the PD that their are in fact security cameras, I also have not seen it reported that there are no visible cameras in the area of the incident, that question remains unreported... Why haven't these enterprising reporteres drawn a plan of the hotel area and where the incident occured in relation to the lobby etc, enquiring minds want to know..it would be nice if there was this type of evidence to shed more light on the incident...

[kevao]

I still live in a society that has a criminal justice system that is still second only to God.

I'm starting to have doubts about how much longer that will be true.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Excellent point again.

[Protagoras]

So if I accuse you of a heinous crime, it would be improper to find out if I am a person who has made these kind of accusations in the past? Or whether I am to be believed in general?

In a case of two people with differing stories, credibility is extremely important.

[Conspiracy Guy]

No we need to go ahead and judge like everyone else. I vote "Tall".

[jeremiah]

Kennedy-Smith go off, because his mother lied to the court. She said that she was sleeping in the room overlooking the crime scene, and heard nothing out of the ordinary. Heard them come in, and everything seemed normal....at least if my memory serves me.

[Conspiracy Guy]

OJ is not part of these case nor is Son of Sam.

[StolarStorm]

Maybe you two should go on a date.

[Skywalk]

BS.

Plenty of people came down on different sides of the Mike Tyson case.

And what about the Chmura case? Granted it wasn't as big as this case is/will be but it got a decent amount of coverage and both involved where WHITE.

[Protagoras]

This girl could have the terrible misfortune of having to deal with depression, etc., and then was brutally raped. I'd give her the benefit of the doubt.

Fortunately we don't send people to prison based on the benefit of the doubt. Beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Yeah let's bring back stoning.