Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Prosecutors say Kobe lied to authorities
Phildaelphia Inquirer ^ | July 31, 2003 | GEORGE MERRITT & CHRIS FRATES

Posted on 07/31/2003 7:54:22 AM PDT by Recourse

Posted on Thu, Jul. 31, 2003

Prosecutors say Kobe lied to authorities

Report: D.A.'s case will focus on injuries, 'inconsistencies' in statements

By GEORGE MERRITT & CHRIS FRATES Denver Post

EAGLE, Colo. - Prosecutors will argue that basketball star Kobe Bryant and his 19-year-old accuser had some consensual sexual contact, but the intercourse was not consensual, unnamed sources have told ABC News.

Sources also told ABC the prosecution will argue Bryant "deceived law-enforcement officials and that he gave inconsistent statements."

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert deferred questions to a spokeswoman, who would not comment on the report.

Hurlbert, however, has said there was "alleged sexual penetration or intrusion" and that Bryant caused "submission of the victim through actual physical force."

Hurlbert charged Bryant July 18 with one count of felony sexual assault after the woman, an employee at the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, accused the Los Angeles Lakers star of sexual assault stemming from a June 30 incident at the resort.

After he was charged, Bryant admitted to having sex with the woman, but he maintained the sex was consensual.

Still, Denver trial lawyer Craig Silverman said it may not matter if Bryant lied to investigators.

"I don't think it means a lot," Silverman said. "In the post-Bill Clinton era it's not surprising that a married man would lie about a martial infidelity."

Bryant was in Colorado for a scheduled knee surgery when the incident occurred. He was contacted by the Eagle County Sheriff's office on July 1 and submitted DNA samples at a local hospital. He was arrested July 4.

If convicted, Bryant faces four years to life in prison. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, though it is unclear whether he will be there in person or whether a representative will appear on his behalf.

The judge in the case, Frederick Gannett, warned news organizations yesterday not to publish or broadcast the name or photograph of any witness, juror, potential juror or the alleged victim and her family on the courthouse grounds. Any organization violating the order could be denied a seat in the courtroom.

Gannett will hear arguments today on whether the records should be made public.

Attorneys for media organizations - including the Los Angeles Times, Denver Post and NBC - have argued that many details have been publicized already.

Hurlbert and defense lawyers want to keep the records sealed, arguing that publicity could affect Bryant's right to a fair trial. Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon also have asked Gannett to reconsider an earlier order allowing cameras in the courtroom during next week's hearing.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: bryant; kobe; kobebryant; lies; rape
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 341-349 next last
To: aristeides
I wasn't speaking from a legal standpoint.

Nobody has the right to violate another person's body. However, I have a problem equating this with a rape where there was no sexual activity in the first place.
21 posted on 07/31/2003 8:21:55 AM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush
Stories along the lines of "she went to his room they started screwing around and THEN he raped her" have been here on FR at least since I started following this story, after the indictment. I don't believe I have ever denied them. In fact, I have suspected all along that that is the sort of thing that may well have occurred. And if that's what happened, it's still rape.

By the way, when I started following this story, neither you nor I knew about the ring or the lies. I have taken these new facts into account. You apparently have not.

22 posted on 07/31/2003 8:22:39 AM PDT by aristeides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: samuel_adams_us
" The next morning, while the accuser was at home, she told her mother what had happened and her mother is the first one to mention the word rape."

Show Bikers4bush the transcript of what you proffered above.

23 posted on 07/31/2003 8:23:19 AM PDT by Bluntpoint
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Bluntpoint
Everytime she looks at the ring, what will it remind her of?

The matching earings, for when the jury gets the case.

24 posted on 07/31/2003 8:24:17 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ExtraSafe21
What is wrong is that you are getting your "truth" from media reports. The truth will come out at the trial. Be patient until then, and discount anything you hear in the interim.
25 posted on 07/31/2003 8:24:27 AM PDT by almcbean
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: NativeNewYorker
Say "forget about already" with diamonds!
26 posted on 07/31/2003 8:25:32 AM PDT by Bluntpoint
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: samuel_adams_us
The accuser had already clocked out, she was on her own time, she was not on official business when she entered Kobe's room.

I believe the accounts differ on that. But the witness who said Bryant had snapped and changed appeared to imply that she had not clocked out. I was merely pointing out that that witness's account was not inconsistent with the story here, as a poster claimed. I do not know if the witness's account is true.

27 posted on 07/31/2003 8:25:33 AM PDT by aristeides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Bluntpoint
The transcript comes from Channel 7 News, Denver Colorado, investigative reporter Tony Kovaleski. The part about why she left, the back door action, comes from KHOW, Redman and Newman, as Scott Redman reported from what he heard from friends who work at the resort.
28 posted on 07/31/2003 8:25:36 AM PDT by samuel_adams_us
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: samuel_adams_us
I've not seen your account before...has that been published or simply inferred?
29 posted on 07/31/2003 8:26:12 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: NativeNewYorker
Go to Channel 7 News, Denver. I picked this up off the KHOW radio, Peter Boyles show, this morning.
30 posted on 07/31/2003 8:27:06 AM PDT by samuel_adams_us
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: samuel_adams_us
Heresay within heresay.

That proves it.
31 posted on 07/31/2003 8:27:25 AM PDT by Bluntpoint
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: aristeides
What I have taken into account is that this story has gone from an attack rape to a "let's stop" and I suspect it will evolve even further.

And I'm still hearing stories about the mother calling it rape FIRST meanwhile the girl is bragging at parties.
32 posted on 07/31/2003 8:28:12 AM PDT by Bikers4Bush
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Bluntpoint
Not heresay, was on TV last night here locally. Craig Silverman, former denver city prosecutor, also stated such on the radio this morning.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/
33 posted on 07/31/2003 8:28:25 AM PDT by samuel_adams_us
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Recourse
If there is any ironic humor to be found in this sad situation, it surely is the justified and near-total abandonment of Kobe by other African-Americans famous and "ordinary" -- due largely to fact that he dared to boink, consensually or otherwise, a white chick. Even Mike Tyson was smart enough to avoid that complication...
34 posted on 07/31/2003 8:28:38 AM PDT by tracer (/b>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: samuel_adams_us
Thanks.

If she can sit, you must acquit.

35 posted on 07/31/2003 8:28:43 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: NativeNewYorker
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2370464/detail.html
36 posted on 07/31/2003 8:29:49 AM PDT by samuel_adams_us
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: tracer
It went beyond boinking into something quite unsanitary.
37 posted on 07/31/2003 8:30:14 AM PDT by jimbo123
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush
I love how you folks have him convicted even in spite of the fact that the story has gone from "he attacked and raped her after luring her to his room" to "she went to his room they started screwing around and THEN he raped her".

Yep. The line of consent keeps moving in the accuser's direction. Next thing you know, we'll find out she actually agreed to some sort of intercourse, but it was the anal approach she didn't like.

38 posted on 07/31/2003 8:31:36 AM PDT by sinkspur ("Boy, watch that knife!'" Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton in "The Searchers")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: samuel_adams_us
When you report what someone else said about what someone else said, we are talking about hearsay in the most classical sense.
39 posted on 07/31/2003 8:31:38 AM PDT by Bluntpoint
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Bikers4Bush
I am not convinced that the ring means anything more than that Kobe is truly sorry about what happened and that he desperately wanted to not be required to take his wife in front of the nation and confess that he had cheated on her. The way it happens on Jerry Springer is not the way it works in the real world...I also think that his purchasing of gift is in line with those who display emotion through sexual or financial means. If you think about it, when a guy has done anything wrong, he usually wants to buy his way or sex his way back into your good graces....
40 posted on 07/31/2003 8:31:51 AM PDT by dwd1 (M. h. D. (Master of Hate and Discontent))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 341-349 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson