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Kobe Bombshell--In His Favor

By Jeralyn, Section Kobe Bryant Case
Posted on Wed May 26, 2004 at 08:07:16 PM EST
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We were at the studio today getting ready for our Terry Nichols' segment on MSNBC's Abrams Report when we were told there was big breaking news in the Kobe Bryant case and we were switching to cover Kobe Bryant instead. (Only in America would the case of a basketball star charged with sexual assault arising from an admittedly initially consensual encounter trump the news that a man had been convicted of 161 counts of first degree murder in the second largest case of domestic terrorism in history.) So, here's the big Kobe news:

DNA test results from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation reportedly show that tests taken the night after the incident at the hospital during the "rape exam" show there is a white male's semen not just on the accuser's yellow knit underwear, but inside her body (and possibly on her thigh). If so, the exuse of wearing "dirty underwear" to her rape exam is probably out the window. Plus, it may mean she lied to investigators when she told them the last time she had sex with someone other than Kobe was two or three days before, with her boyfriend, who wore a condom.

The defense has been alleging for months that the accuser may have had sex with someone after having sex with Kobe and before arriving at the hospital for her rape exam. They have said in pleadings several times that the pinpoint lacerations the accuser suffered to her posterior forchette were the result of repeated consensual activity within a short period of time, not sexual assault. They have filed motions alleging that the accuser has had sex with two prosecution witnesses--and they have requested that two specific white males be ordered to submit to DNA testing. If these test results bear that out, we say there's a good chance this case is over.

Kobe's pre-trial hearings continue tomorrow in Eagle. We're scheduled to review the day's events again on the Abrams Report, MSNBC, 6 PM ET. At issue will be whether the defense can call two crime scene experts to testify that the Eagle authorities botched the investigation by failing to collect important evidence that could have established Kobe's consent defense. Our view, from yesterday's show:

There could have been physical evidence in that room that would show that Kobe is correct, that this was consensual sex., and that she is lying when she says it was a sexual assault. She went in the bathroom, she cleaned herself up. She had just had sex, she is claiming a rape. Maybe the towels that she wiped herself with would have evidence of blood on it if there had been a rape and maybe if there had not been a rape, there would be no evidence of that. She says she was raped over a chair. They didn‘t take the chair. They didn‘t examine the carpet around the chair. They didn‘t examine the carpet leading to the bathroom. Particularly in a case where you have consent as a defense and you have the woman saying rape, physical evidence is critical. This could make the difference for the jury in terms of is he guilty or not and the police didn‘t pursue it.

.... the real issue here is that the jury is going to be instructed that reasonable doubt can be found from not only the evidence presented, but from a lack of evidence. And Hal Haddon and Pam Mackey are going to hammer home to this jury that the reason there‘s a lack of evidence is because the cops didn‘t do their job.

One other thought: If Kobe dominates the cable news shows tomorrow night, it's a clear sign to us that no one is paying much credence to Bush and Ashcroft and their new terror warning. Cable news is ratings-driven. If they think more people want to know about Kobe than the terror threat, that's what they'll go with. On the other hand, if Kobe is bumped for terror news... well, let's all hope that doesn't happen.

[comments have degenerated into a two person spat between "245" and "INFR"--we've closed them. We'd also note that 245 is mostly incorrect in his factual recitations and we don't want to promote them. We'll leave them up, but read with caution.]

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