XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: wilfred@aol.com   
      
   On April 13, Kobe Bean Bryant will don his Lakers jersey for the   
   last time. And during this, his 20th and final NBA season,   
   Bryant has received an extended valediction fit for a king,   
   replete with celebrations, movie-star commercials, and unanimous   
   praise from basketball stars past and present. His professional   
   résumé is, of course, indisputable. Bryant is an 18-time All-   
   Star, 12-time member of the All-Defensive team, and five-time   
   NBA champion. He will go down as the second-best shooting guard   
   in NBA history—behind His Airness—and one of the Top 20 players   
   to ever set foot on the hardwood.   
      
   But when taking into account the entire breadth of Bryant’s   
   tenure in the spotlight, the personal and professional, there   
   will always be one giant question mark, one disturbing episode   
   that gives even the most ardent admirers of the Black Mamba   
   considerable pause: the rape case.   
      
   The Kobe Bryant rape case has, in the annals of popular culture,   
   been reduced to something of a punchline due to the   
   aftermath—namely, Bryant’s $4 million, 8-carat purple diamond   
   apology ring that he gifted to his wife, Vanessa. But what   
   exactly transpired on the night of June 30, 2003, at the Lodge &   
   Spa at Cordillera, in Colorado, may always be a mystery. Despite   
   being charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment—facing   
   life in prison—and tearfully confessing to committing adultery   
   with his 19-year-old accuser, Bryant’s case never made it to   
   trial. On Sept. 1, 2004, one week before opening statements were   
   to be made, the case was dismissed after the accuser, who had   
   been dragged through the mud for months by the media and   
   Bryant’s defense team, informed the court that she would not   
   testify. The woman had filed a separate civil suit against   
   Bryant, and had agreed to dismissal of the sexual-assault charge   
   against him provided the athlete issued the following apology to   
   his accuser, which was read in court by Bryant’s attorney:   
      
   First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved   
   in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior   
   that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past   
   year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me   
   personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure. I   
   also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to   
   my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of   
   Eagle, Colo. I also want to make it clear that I do not question   
   the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this   
   woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used   
   against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this   
   encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she   
   did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.   
   After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney,   
   and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels   
   that she did not consent to this encounter. I issue this   
   statement today fully aware that while one part of this case   
   ends today, another remains. I understand that the civil case   
   against me will go forward. That part of this case will be   
   decided by and between the parties directly involved in the   
   incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on   
   the citizens of the state of Colorado.   
      
   The accuser’s civil suit against Bryant was ultimately settled   
   in March 2005, and terms of the settlement were undisclosed (the   
   total amount civil juries in Colorado could award at the time   
   was $2.5 million). And the accuser, it should be noted, came   
   from a wealthy family.   
      
   The Daily Beast has reviewed the legal and court documents of   
   the Kobe Bryant rape case, including testimony from the accuser,   
   then 19, and Bryant, then 24, which shed some light on what may   
   have happened that night.   
      
   https://youtu.be/UVxlvilWG8g   
      
   “Last night I was at work and I was sexually assaulted.” So   
   begins the accuser’s version of the events that took place the   
   night of June 30, 2003, according to the police transcript of an   
   interview taken with her the following day by Det. Winters and   
   Deputy Rich of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office in Eagle,   
   Colorado.   
      
   The accuser, who is white, said she arrived late to work at the   
   Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, a resort in Edwards, Colorado—between   
   Eagle and Vail—at around 2 p.m. on June 30. At around 4 p.m.,   
   she said she received a call from a travel agent checking in on   
      
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