Prosecutors say Kobe lied to authorities

Phildaelphia Inquirer ^ | July 31, 2003 | GEORGE MERRITT & CHRIS FRATES

[NativeNewYorker]

Thanks.

[Tall_Texan]

"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."

Ah, yes - the REAL Clinton legacy! Democrats can now argue that perjury is okay as long as it's about sex and you don't like the prosecution. Presumably, with a straight face.

[Bikers4Bush]

I agree completely. If it wasn't clear my post was a sarcastic response.

[Bluntpoint]

"but it was the anal approach she didn't like."

Maybe not even the "approach" but the "landing" is what many find so objectionable.

[samuel_adams_us]

But when I provide the links, it's no longer heresay right?

[Bikers4Bush]

I could absolutely see that happening. Even as far as she agreed to try the back door thing and then asked him to stop etc.

I have become very suspect about the validity of the accusers claims when the prosecutors and others have begun to break the gag order by talking to the media and disclosing certain pieces of info.

It makes me think they're trying to prove something that isn't there or that they feel is falling apart.

[ladyjane]

Unsanitary? Hence the gag order?

[dwd1]

I don't think the black community abandoned him...It is just that we know that if accusations or allegations are made against him, he has a problem in that he broke what is in many people's minds an unwritten rule. Because of the location of the alleged offense, the word out here very simply is that Kobe showed extremely poor judgement on several occasions. The other mistake that he made was cheating on a Latina. I have been told on several occasions that the diamond ring is just the downpayment for that debt...

[sinkspur]

Maybe not even the "approach" but the "landing" is what many find so objectionable.

The point is that the accuser has gone from being an unwilling partner, to being a willing partner who tried to stop a runaway freight train.

Whatever the law says, the challenge will be convincing all 12 jurors that this was sexual assault.

And, gag order or now, these stories and details are going to continue to emerge and evolve, in public.

[Tall_Texan]

I haven't heard anyone suggest this but, given the timeline, isn't it possible that they started the sex *before* she left to "clock out" and then resumed after he call the front desk? If so, it makes Kobe's call to his wife and what she expected on returning to his room in an entirely different light.

[Bluntpoint]

Hearsay is evidence given buy someone other than the declarent of what the declarent actually said.

If I said I shot JFK, that is a statement. It may or not be factual.

If John said that I said I shot JFK, that is hearsay evidence.

Hearsay is only as credible as the person providing it.

Hearsay does not prove or disprove.

[Bluntpoint]

Chances are we won't be in the jury pool.

[Bikers4Bush]

You make a good point.

[dwd1]

I'm with you on that...

It brings me back to a question that I asked last week about why no other charges (battery, etc) were not filed....With the prosecution conceding a certain level of consensual sex, they may have put themselves in a bad position by not charging him with assault so that Kobe would have to answer for any injuries that appear unwarranted...

It reminds me of the Menendez Brothers who blew away their parents. Conventional wisdom was that they should have been charged only with the murder of their mother because they were justified in killing the father but not the mother...One trial, conviction, lights out...

If Kobe were charged with assault, the issue about consensual sex and the he said she said goes away. He would then have to defend against this girls injuries and that would most likely be much more difficult...

[aristeides]

Isn't assault a lesser included offense of sexual assault that the prosecution is free to bring forward at a later stage?

[ExtraSafe21]

I will try to find the actual quote, but what I remember was the friend saying that as "soon as she came into the room Kobe snapped and changed his personality"

In any event, during the initial days you never heard these pack of friends, who were talking for her, say anything about the consensual playing around.

Now, weeks later this so called rape is about going beyond the scope of the original consent. This is different than before.

Also, if she was beaten so badly, I do not think the hotel would have allowed her to go home without calling the police. Really people, am I suppose to belief that she had a face so badly beaten that it took weeks to heal and was observed by the hotel staff and no one called the police. Come on.

There have been report which have stated that they could not see the injuries. I am not aware of any report stating that the hotel called the police that night. Kobe was playing chess in the lobby of the hotel after the so called rape, would have made for an easy arrest.

[tracer]

Perhaps humor is the wrong choice of words here, but I find ironic published reports that Kobe angered many people -- African Americans and rednecks alike -- by crossing the "color-line" in addition to apparently abusing what appears to be a "groupie." And if he in fact married to a Latina, his troubles have only begun....

[Bluntpoint]

It generally is viewed in a case like this where the lesser offense composes elements of the greater offense.

It all depends how the state criminal code is structured if the prosecutor can add such a count later.

[You Dirty Rats]

This story quotes ABC, who quotes "unnamed sources" who heard that prosecutors will ...

And from this people draw conclusions?

All I care about is that there is a fair trial. Everything else, including speculation by the media, the public's "right to know" (i.e. wallow in the salacious details of the case), what kind of ring the accused purchased for his wife -- doesn't count for anything in my book.

The judge should close the courtroom to all media except for two pool reporters armed with nothing but pen and paper. Turning criminal proceeding into circuses is disgraceful. Courts should be serious places, not sport offered for the bored masses.

[dwd1]

I think so...If at trial, Kobe testifies, he had better be careful because he may give them what is needed to charge him with and convict him of assault and battery...

She would still get a moderate amount of compensation and hopefully Kobe will learn to keep his zipper and not his genitals in the full and upright position...