Judge Orders Rape Trial for Kobe Bryant

[Loyal]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031020/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bkn_bryant_case_10

EAGLE, Colo. - NBA star Kobe Bryant must stand trial on a charge of raping a 19-year-old Colorado resort worker, a judge ruled Monday, clearing the way for a celebrity trial the likes of which haven't been seen since O.J. Simpson was in court


Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett said prosecutors presented enough evidence Bryant might have committed the crime June 30. The Los Angeles Lakers (news) guard could face a life sentence if convicted.


His next appearance, in district court, would be Nov. 10.


Bryant, 25, has said the sex was consensual. His attorneys suggested the woman's injuries came during sex with other men in the days before her encounter with Bryant at a posh resort in nearby Edwards.

...more to be read at the link above.

[kanrok]

1. There's a shocker!

(sarcasm)

[Parche]

2. DOBE

The arrogant is guilty as far as I am concerned

[private_ryan]

5. let's hang him then Judge Parche

n/t

[candy331]

6. Sure hope

more of us will wait until the trial before finding of guilt/innocence. With Asscroft in office who knows you may find yourself in dire need of being innocent until PROVEN guilty.

[Champion Jack]

3. Who cares?

[NashVegas]

4. Now - Where to Find an Untainted Jury?

The hearing publicity pretty much guaranteed anyone with cable, newspapers, or internet access has already heard more than we already wanted to know.

Maybe they can find some out-of-the-loop homeless people.

[Corgigal]

7. Oh just send him on a tour of duty

in Iraq and call it even.

[joeybee12]

8. Why isn't this post flaming????

People always respond to Kobe posts.

Too jaded now, I guess.

This is not a surprise at all, and I'm saying that without any inference to guilt or innocence, just that judges always give the prosecution the benefit of the doubt.

[Voltaire99]

9. If the product endorsement fits, you must acquit

Bryant is too central to NBA profits, and America's understanding of rape too distorted by its Puritan lens, for a conviction.

Regardless what evidence is presented a trial, two ideas will be operative in the mind of jurors:

1) She's a slut

2) He's suffered enough

Compare Tyson's conviction. Unlike Bryant, Tyson was a demonstrably volatile guy with a creepy past and a decadent present; moreover, he came from a sport overtly identified with sadism. The prosecution narrative told at Tyson's trial seemed entirely plausible, although it is more a debatable question whether Tyson's subsequent psychotic meltdowns bolster that view and/or demonstrate how he has always fulfilled the public role expected, even required, of him by a racist society.

Both men are gifted athletes. But Kobe is what Mike could never hope to be: a coporatized emblem of white America's ideal of the African American - a safe, nonthreatening brand name. That's why he can't be convicted, having attained a certain secular sainthood, and why a tremendous amount of media energy is being devoted to helping assure his acquittal.

[Mz Pip]

10. This will be

the new circus for the masses during the upcoming primary season. Who will get more aairtime Kobe or the Dem candidates? We'll learn more about Kobe than we will about any of the candidates.

MzPip
:dem:

[arwalden]

11. They Would Kick Me Out Of The Jury Pool PRONTO! I've made up my mind...

... he's being set up. She's a ho... only white. He's innocent... only black. And rich. And famous. What prosecutor wouldn't like to have that trophy--that notch on their belt--that line in their resume?

-- Allen