mightynine
Member
So sayeth CNN.
DarienA said:Hmmm I don't see it on the website yet... you know... I'm trying to not think badly of her... but... well.... you know....
Clune said his client is considering filing a civil lawsuit against Bryant.
> BREAKING NEWS The woman who accused basketball star Kobe Bryant of rape has filed criminal charges against him. Details soon
DENVER - The woman who accuses basketball star Kobe Bryant of rape sued the Los Angeles Laker in federal court Tuesday for an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Denver, the woman under the name of Jane Doe claimed Bryant raped her when she was bent over a chair in his hotel room in a Vail-area resort last year -- a claim that matches the criminal charge against him.
DarienA said:This looks to me like:
Lawyers to client... you know it looks like there's no way we can win a criminal case.... you should file a civil suit... he'll probably settle and you can get some more money out of the deal.
Willco said:IT'S THE BITCHES THAT'LL GETCHAS.
In other news, if she wins or settles this civil suit, I will announce my civil suit that Karl Malone put his penis in my ear after I asked for an autograph.
Your case will get tossed out of court immediately as Karl Malone has no penis.Willco said:IT'S THE BITCHES THAT'LL GETCHAS.
In other news, if she wins or settles this civil suit, I will announce my civil suit that Karl Malone put his penis in my ear after I asked for an autograph.
ConfusingJazz said:Wait, you can sue for that. That bitch Malone owes me money as well.
... has been subjected to "public scorn, hatred, and ridicule and has suffered threats against her life and physical safety."
BigGreenMat said:Well in all honesty what will probably happen is that kobe will look at the total expense his legal team for such a case would cost and then offer a bit less than that amount to settle. It only makes fiscal sense. Also the girl is going to be screwed because civil court does not have all the different safe guards that criminal court has so all of her dirty laundry is pretty much going to be aired. This means that she will take whatever settlement is offered her. Won't go to trial.
shoplifter said:If I were Kobe, I'd tell her to fuck off, win the suit, then countersue for defamation of character.
ShadowRed said:Sueing someone does not equal defamation of character
shoplifter said:No, but claiming someone raped you (when in fact they truly did not) does.
I'll refrain from commenting on whether or not Kobe did, as I don't have all of the evidence in front of me.
In other news, if she wins or settles this civil suit, I will announce my civil suit that Karl Malone put his penis in my ear after I asked for an autograph.
Meanwhile, the woman's attorneys have laid out a strategy for her to maximize a monetary civil settlement, a strategy that legal analysts said could include her not testifying.
It takes two sides to strike a bargain, though, and the defense is said to be digging in for a fight. Bryant is unwilling to negotiate a monetary civil settlement, a source close to him said, even if an agreement would lead to the criminal charge being dropped.
"He is not giving her 5 cents," said the source, who requested anonymity. "Think about what we know about him. He's a competitor."
A hard-line stance by the Laker star could have convinced the woman and her attorneys to continue to cooperate with prosecutors. Several sources said she has overcome her reservations and is ready to proceed.
"She is firm in her resolve to testify," said David Lugert, an Eagle attorney who shares an office with one of the woman's attorneys, John Clune.
For several weeks the woman's attorneys sent signals to the contrary, publicly complaining that the mistaken release of transcripts from a closed session and other court errors had tainted the jury pool and destroyed the criminal case.
The previously sealed evidence recounts why Bryant's attorneys believe that the woman had sex with someone else in the hours after the alleged rape and before her medical examination the next day. Also, evidence that no DNA from the other man was found on Bryant at his exam was erroneously posted for a short time on a court-sanctioned website.
All the information will be admissible at trial, but the episodes prompted Clune to say that the woman's family "has no confidence that anything done through the courts won't end in disaster."
Clune and libel attorney Lin Wood, a recent addition to the woman's legal team, said on national television that their client "obviously has got to rethink what she's going to do" and that she would "get a more level playing field" in civil court.
On Aug. 10, she filed a federal civil suit in Denver.
The next day, her father wrote a letter to Terry Ruckriegle, the judge presiding over the criminal case, that said, "My family and I have lost trust that we can obtain a fair trial in your court."
Ruckriegle issued a sweeping gag order, but the civil filing enabled the woman's attorneys to continue their war of words. The suit recounted, in graphic detail, the woman's version of the alleged rape at a mountain resort on June 30, 2003.
Bryant, who turns 26 today, says he and the woman had consensual sex. He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted.
The woman's attorneys also made an allegation prosecutors had steered clear of, stating that Bryant "has a history of attempting to commit similar acts of violent sexual assault on females he has just met and has thereby established a pattern and practice of such unlawful acts."
Filing a civil suit before a criminal trial is unusual, experts said, because the defense can suggest to the jury that the accuser is motivated by financial gain. However, the woman possesses greater leverage for a civil settlement before the criminal trial.
"The civil suit is a platform to begin settlement discussions ethically," said Larry Pozner, a Denver attorney and former president of the National Assn. of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
"It has to be choreographed very carefully because a settlement cannot be dependant on agreeing not to testify."
In a case where a dollar figure is agreed upon and an accuser then refuses to testify, prosecutors would be left with little choice but to dismiss the charge. An accuser could be subpoenaed and forced to testify, but that is almost unheard of in a sexual assault case.
Both sides have motivation to reach an agreement before the criminal trial. The defendant no longer would face a charge that could lead to life in prison, the accuser would be compensated monetarily, and everyone would avoid the airing of embarrassing evidence.
Because Bryant does not appear interested in such a compromise, however, the strategy of the woman's attorneys could backfire on the accuser.
"The D.A. knows the judge is not going to be happy" with the comments by Wood and Clune, said Karen Steinhauser, a Denver law professor. The civil suit, she said, is a clear signal that the relationship between prosecutors and the accuser "has gone awry. Something has happened between the prosecutors and that family."
That's mostly because jesus, how the hell could you want to cheat on a wife THAT hot?
Kobe Refuses Plea Bargain Deal
August 26, 2004
Beginning Friday, Eagle, Colorado, will be filled with satellite trucks and reporters from all over the world as Kobe Bryant's trial officially begins -- but the questions remain: could it all have been avoided with a simple plea -- and if so, why wasn't it?
Sources tell "CJ" Bryant made the decision to cut off discussions that would have had him pleading to a lesser charge which would have only given him probation. We're told prosecutors were open to the idea of Bryant pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, accompanied with some kind of apology letter, but Bryant didn't take the bait. Instead, he wants a full acquittal.
Despite any suggestions to the contrary, legal observers in Eagle now believe the case is destined to go the distance. Local defense lawyer Bruce Carey says people in Colorado, himself included, would be furious if the DA dropped the case at this late hour.
"I feel the political fallout would be far too great to drop it at the eleventh hour," Carey told us. "It's been going on for thirteen months and they've spent a great deal of money on this case."
Even so, prosecutors have been known to drop cases just as the trial starts.
Meanwhile, the defense is prepared for battle. In court, both sides were fought over the explosive DNA evidence suggesting the accuser had sex with someone else just hours after leaving Kobe's hotel room. Prosecutors say the DNA may be contaminated and the defense has manipulated the results. But Kobe's lawyer, Hal Haddon, called the charge an attempt to grab a cheap headline. There's been no ruling yet.
It's clear the prosecution has their work cut for them -- evan as jury selection is about to begin, sources tell "CJ" that many employees in the DA's office think it's a losing case.
the chick he raped/cheated with is ugly as hell in comparison to his wife though. if my wife was as hot as Kobe's, I certainly wouldn't cheat with somebody lower on the scale.Pimpwerx said:He has a dick, doesn't he? Man was never meant for monogamy. Marriage is the unnatural act. Personally, I wouldn't even dream of getting married if I was a pro athlete. What a total waste of star power and pussy potential. PEACE.
firex said:the chick he raped/cheated with is ugly as hell in comparison to his wife though. if my wife was as hot as Kobe's, I certainly wouldn't cheat with somebody lower on the scale.
oh, and $10 says that she screamed something like "Jordan would have fucked me better" and that made Kobe get violent.