Say it ain't so: Kobe Bryant arrested for felony sexual assault? (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

I just saw the press conference about an hour or so ago. I felt so sorry for his wife. I kept thinking how funny it was that guys caught in the act always feel the need to publicly reaffirm their love for their wives, and express how sorry they are... That hand holding thing was cringe inducing... do you think they were still holding hands in the limo on the way back?

Guilty or not, he really fucked up.

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Holadem

 

[Hunter P]

Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to eat Top Ramen and tuna fish sandwiches for a while. Oh yeah, and Totino's pizza. They're $1.50 each this week at my grocery store.

How can we believe anything Kobe says from now on? He had this squeaky clean image and even told us last week, "Come on, you all know me. I wouldn't do such a thing." (I'm paraphrasing since I'm too lazy too look up the exact quote.)

Now he admits to adultery because his hand is forced by forensic evidence. I'm sure he's only admitting to what he is sure they can prove and nothing more. Which leads me to believe there is something more.

Even if he walks, he's proven himself to be yet another two faced athlete like Michael Jordan and Kirby Puckett.

 

[Holadem]

How can we believe anything Kobe says from now on? He had this squeaky clean image and even told us last week, "Come on, you all know me. I wouldn't do such a thing." (I'm paraphrasing since I'm too lazy too look up the exact quote.)

Now he admits to adultery because his hand is forced by forensic evidence. I'm sure he's only admitting to what he is sure they can prove and nothing more. Which leads me to believe there is something more.

I never understood the "if he lied about this, there must be more" line of thinking. There MAY be more. There may NOT be.

Were you expecting a man who cheated on his women to just come out and say "Yes, I did it" at the first accusation? And because he (naturally, you would too) lied about it, means that he is guilty of everything else?

Two faced? When have those athletes ever claimed to be models of virtue? I am not excusing the behavior (look at my previous post) but they aren't flawless.

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Holadem

 

[Howard Williams]

Here's what I don't understand. Why in the heck did Kobe even do that press conference in the first place? Bad move Kobe. Very bad move. He had absolutely nothing to gain and much to lose and he did lose much more than he gained. If I were his lawyer, I would have talked him out of it. I'm sure they tried but they shoulda tried much harder. Sometimes you have to protect your client from himself.

My very first impressions were, "Kobe..dude....get another lawyer. She's gonna get you killed". I later learned his lawyer is very well respected and very capable. I couldn't believe the things they both said. They often left the doors wide open for future attacks.

Kobe should have came out, read a brief statement and left. Instead he tried to give the press an impromptu confessional. Bad move Kobe. Very bad move. He should have simply apologized to his family, again to his wife, the girl, the girls' family and maybe even his teammates. Finish it off with a line about, "Despite my lack of good judgment that night, I want you all to know that the sex was consensual but that does not excuse me from the shame I have placed on himself, my family and those that care about me. Again, I am sorry" Heck, I could've written it for him.

Kobe came off as very naive and immature. Not a good combination for a Super Star. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Kobe fan but come on Man !! Why the heck was he all alone in the first place. I would think he'd have someone with him almost at all times. Maybe not an actual body guard but I would think he rarely travels alone.

I don't know. Wait and see. I must admit, this now has my interest.

 

[BrandonM]

And yet an assistant DA in San Francisco said it was a perfect press conference and they couldn't have pulled it off any better.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Actually, I think him going to the press conference and admitting to the world that he made a great mistake by having a sexual encounter with this young woman as well as publicly stating his innocence on the rape charge was a great move on his part. He appeared very humbled in front of the world as he expressed to us that he morally fucked up, but he is not a convicted rapist yet, but just another flawed human being like the rest of us.





Crawdaddy

 

[Howard Williams]

"Anything you say can and will be used against you". Truer words have seldom been spoken.

 

[Tom-G]

Actually, I think him going to the press conference and admitting to the world that he made a great mistake by having a sexual encounter with this young woman as well as publicly stating his innocence on the rape charge was a great move on his part

I'm not sure he did that on his own volition. His back is to the wall. The authorities have proof that he had sex with this woman, so that begs the question--would he have admitted to an affair if there was no proof that he had sex with her?

 

[Patrick_S]

Actually, I think him going to the press conference and admitting to the world that he made a great mistake by having a sexual encounter with this young woman as well as publicly stating his innocence on the rape charge was a great move on his part.

I'd have to agree that the press conference was the right thing to do.

It's already been stated that his defense will be they had consensual sex so there was no sexual assault. That being the defense you might as well start stating that to the public as soon as possible.

Bryant should also start giving as many interviews as possible and always let it be know that yes he is a pig and lousy husband for cheating on his wife but the sex was consensual. His wife should even give some solo interviews were she states how she wanted to kill him after he admitted the one nightstand and that they are now working together to repair their marriage.

With any kind of luck when the authorities first questioned him he told them that the encounter was consensual so his story is consistent. If not that will definitely come out in the trail.

What should be interesting is if this trail is carried on live TV and if so will ESPN carry it?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Once they filed charges against him, it didn't matter who's decision it was that got him to that news conference, it really only matter that he faced the world and declared his innocence for all to see. Whether he's guilty of rape will be decided by the facts of the case in a court of law.





Crawdaddy

 

[Robert_Z]

I watched the press conference last night. Since no one else has asked, I'll do it.

What the heck was Kobe doing with his mouth?

 

[Patrick Sun]

That whole mouth thing was pretty annoying to watch.

 

[Karl_Luph]

This is one of those points in a person's life where they wish they could turn back time. This is a good example of why we all need to reevaluate the importance of being faithful to our spouses and the reprocussions that can come back on us when we disobey the marriage vows.

 

[Carlo_M]

Actually, I think him going to the press conference and admitting to the world that he made a great mistake by having a sexual encounter with this young woman as well as publicly stating his innocence on the rape charge was a great move on his part.

Absolutely what I thought too.

Let's remember this:

He is accused of sexual assault.

That means some sort of sexual activity that she (the alleged victim) was not a willing participant. Kobe and his defense lawyer, or team, (because that's who told him to do the press conference and issue the statement) fired a preemptive shot.

They are admitting they had an affair.

But they are also implying that she was a willing participant, which if true, means that there was no sexual assault.

They aren't trying to say Kobe didn't have any sexual activity with the woman - he must have since the D.A. examined "physical evidence" before filing the charge. But he's saying she was a willing participant, and that is legally not considered sexual assault.

As someone else already said, I think this whole thing is going to boil down to "he said, she said" and it's going to be up to 12 jurors to decide whom to believe.

 

[Justin Lane]

There is also the aspect of the sex involved here. I am thinking it might have started out as a normal sexual encounter and then Kobe took it too far (real rough sex, anal penetration, etc.). Notice how no one is saying the rape word in this case. Everything will come out in the trial, but I find it hard to believe that that Kobe got the clothing off this woman unwillingly without her screaming or making some other type of commotion (broken lamps, scratches on Kobe, etc.). If this is the case, Kobe is still guilty of assault. Once a woman says no, even if you already had one type of sex, it means no.

Either way, Kobe has dropped really far in my book. He was foolish beyond all belief, cheated on his wife, and cost himself millions in the process. If you are going to cheat on your wife at least use one of the call girl services available to millionaires which are far more discrete.

J

 

[Cees Alons]

I don't know the person you all are talking about, nor anything about the case, except what I read in this thread.

First, I want to express my amazement about some of the things posted here as assumptions, thoughts and fantasies of some members. Do we really need to know the workings of their minds?

Secondly, this reminds me of a somewhat similar case in my country, a few years ago, involving a really great football (= soccer) star.

He was accused by a young woman (legal age) of rape in his apartment, even together with two colleague soccer players, good friends of his.
Newspapers fell all over him and he was dragged through the mud from the start on. In that case, infidelity was not an issue, because all persons involved were young and unmarried. He and his friends insisted that it had been a consenting situation, even that they had felt so happy and wonderful about it.
But he seemed finished. His character was killed even before the trial.

Suddenly the whole case took an unexpected turn, when all charges were instantaneously dropped.

A new witness had appeared. It was a taxi-driver who told the police he had been driving the girl home from the apartment that night. He could easily prove to the satisfaction of the police and the DA that his story was true. He testified not only that she didn't look assaulted in the least then, but even that she boasted she "had been with xxxxx" (the soccer player). She had clearly hinted that she had had sex with him. That was why he remembered the whole thing so well.
Confronted with this witness, the girl withdrew all her accusations.

The soccer player was cleared, but as several persons involved said later, he was extremely lucky (and so were his friends) that this situation happened to be as it was, for he probably wouldn't have had much of a chance had she not been taking a taxi home.

Don't judge until you know all the facts.

Cees

 

[Jan H]

I hope the Dutch story is a precedent, Cees, and I'm not saying that just because I'm a Laker fan. This case will get seriously ugly, and not merely because it's a 'he said, she said' scenario, but because it will become a black man/white woman case, in addition to it being a 'Superstar Athlete' case. I never thought I would say this, but this has the potential to be bigger than O.J. Not more serious, mind you, but 'bigger'. I bet there are far more unfaithful husbands out there than wife-murderers.

 

[Brian Perry]

it will become a black man/white woman case

This is the first time I've heard that the accuser was white, and it is unfortunate. (Not that it would have been fortunate for a black woman to be involved.) If Kobe is found guilty there will inevitably be cries that it was a racially motivated decision. The race angle will be worse than that of the OJ trial, where there was obviously no doubt that a crime had occurred (it was just a matter of "whodunnit"). Here it will predominantly come down to whom the jurors believe is telling the truth in what will undoubtedly be two vastly different accounts of what happened in bed.

The biggest problem Kobe faces right now is that virtually nothing the woman says about the events leading up to the actual sex will have any legal bearing on the case. She can say she was attracted to him, that she thought about having sex with him, that she suggested meeting in his room, etc. However, she can claim that once intercourse was imminent, she emphatically said no. (While the details of this case aren't known yet, there have been cases where the woman agreed to initial penetration, then changed her mind, and when the guy didn't stop, she had him charged with rape.) That is the law, right or wrong, like it or not. And if the prosecutor introduces physical evidence showing "forcible entry," I wonder if it's even possible to logically find in favor of Kobe. (Of course, as mentioned earlier, other factors may come into play.)

 

[Robert Crawford]

Talk about speculation based on no actual facts about this case!





Crawdaddy

 

[Holadem]

for a black woman to be involved.)

Gotta love the disclaimer!

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Holadem