Kobe Bryant's Accuser Tried To Commit Suicide Two Months Ago From the Orange County Register: EAGLE, COLO – Everyone here knew her as the popular Eagle Valley Senior High School cheerleader springing with vibrant spirit and sweet smiles, as the beautiful singer always ready to perform in school musicals with the clearest voice and the strongest heart. But her close friends have been doggedly protecting a secret in the unnerving days since the 19-year-old woman accused Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant of forcing her to have sex with him - a secret that Bryant's attorneys could use to undermine her credibility, legal experts say. Two months before the woman went to the Eagle County Sheriff's Department on July 1 alleging that Bryant had sexually assaulted her, the woman suffered under such mental anguish that she overdosed on pills and was rushed to a hospital, her friends told The Orange County Register. "I think it was just a cry for help," said Lindsey McKinney, 18, who lived at the woman's house in May, when the woman took the pills. McKinney was visiting other friends when, about 2 a.m. one day, she learned from the woman's ex-boyfriend that the woman had "overdosed." McKinney rushed to the woman's Eagle home and found the woman incoherent, lethargic and seemingly drunk. "I was scared. She wasn't really talking at all," McKinney said. "I was like, ' you need to open your eyes.' " Moments later, the woman's parents awoke and called 911. An ambulance responded and took the woman to a hospital, McKinney said. Some friends said they thought the overdose was an accident. Not McKinney. Kobe Bryant Now Has Street Cred? C. Jemal Horton writes on Indystar.com: So now Kobe Bryant finally is supposed to be accepted by inner-city black kids? So now the middle class-bred Bryant is supposed to have -- I hate this term -- street credibility? All because the Los Angeles Lakers star recently was arrested in Colorado on a felony count of sexual assault? Flip through enough television channels and you'll hear this conclusion more than once from the high-brow experts: Kobe's got "street cred" now. Inner-city black kids, who loathed him before, can identify with him now. His Nikes will sell like crazy. DENNIS PRAGER SAYS 7/21/03: The rape of a name is as bad as a rape without violence. So why name the accused but not the accuser? As the victims of rape are 99% women, this is as blatant example of sexism as there is. I thought we were all about equality now. You could argue that you don't name the accuser to protect her feelings and those of the men around her. But the feelings of those who are accused of rape, and those around him, are just as real and deep? Kobe's wife feels just as badly about this situation as Kobe's accuser. Wendy McElroy writes on Foxnews.com:
Kevin Roderick writes on LA Observed: "Kobe's home address, phone & email aren't on the Web[.] But his accuser's are now, and so is her name, her photo and where she goes to college. Some L.A. bloggers, including Luke Ford, are linking to the site that is circulating the personal info. Also local talk jock Tom Leykis chose to broadcast her info nationwide today, reports SoCalLawBlog. The moral: don't dare file a police report against an NBA star." AlexanderThePoet thinks: "Rule #1 of the world wide web is that anything you post, can be copied and pasted elsewhere. Or at the least, that's how people should look at it. If info regarding the victim of Kobe Bryant was posted on a site, it becomes public domain. In which case, you can't blame Luke Ford or anyone else for linking to that site. The info was out there people! It's not like they opened up Pandora's Box." EH writes: "Luke publishes a lot of stuff he probably shouldn't. And just because it's already on the net is no excuse. Like my mother (and probably everyone else's, too) used to say: Two wrongs don't make a right." Luke replies: As soon as I heard about binaryreport.com report on Kobe's accuser, I wanted to visit the site. I did visit the site. I bet Kevin Roderick visited binaryreport.com, if just to see what the fuss was about. Yeah right. If it was ok for Kevin and the institutional media to visit the site, why was it not ok for them to link to it? Ok, I understand there are powerful reasons against linking to it because the great unwashed are dangerous. My philosophy on such stuff is - if I want to visit the site, I'm going to feel free to link to it so my readers can visit the site too. If I would've wanted to see Diana's crash pictures (I didn't), I would've linked to them. My site reflects me and my interests. The moral has nothing to do with filing a police report against an NBA star. I couldn't care less about Kobe the basketball player. I'm not a Laker fan. I don't look up to athletes generally. Here's the moral: It's wrong to name the accused in a sex crimes case and not the accuser. You may say that naming the accuser causes her great shame and causes those who love and try to protect her great shame. Well, accusing someone of rape causes the man great shame and those who love him great shame. Not naming the women (and victims of sex crimes are usually women) is blatant sexism. I thought the moood in this modern era was to make things equal. I'm echoing the thoughts of talkshow host Dennis Prager. Kevin makes an excellent point that Kobe's personal information (address, email, etc) aren't being distributed like the accuser's. True. But it was Kobe who was named and his reputation dragged through the mud while the conventional news media, as always, gave the accuser a free pass. That's not right. I don't like it that the accuser's personal info is now all over the web (helped in small part by my link). I don't think it's right to give out her home address but it is the understandable reaction to a feminist news media and justice system that treats men and women differently. Just because there is something on a link I find morally objectionable does not automatically mean I will not link to that page. I will weigh the good with the bad. I think it is good that this woman, and anyone who files charges of rape, be named. I think people should be held responsible for their behavior (i.e., filing charges). If they want to avoid the publicity of charging a star with rape, they should not file a charge, and they should see if there's anything they can learn from the experience, such as do not go to a man's room alone unless you want to have sex. Also, if privacy is vitally important to you, there are lots of things you can do to protect your information. Take responsibility for your lives, folks. I hope that if this woman is found to have brought a false accusation, that she's sentenced to the same prison term Kobe faced if guilty. All false accusers should suffer this, as the Torah prescribes. Secular law however does not use this. Dennis Prager points out that Kobe has developed a strong moral bank account. He's led a responsible life. He got married. He has no tattoos. He seems like a decent fellow. The number of characters in the NBA with good character and good family life (he married before having kids) is so small, I pray Kobe is innocent. It's important that inner-city black kids have a good black role model for a bourgeois life. When Mike Tyson was charged, I tended to believe the accusations. A juror is not supposed to take the past into account, only the event. In life, we act differently. Feminism has warped jurisprudence. According to Ms Magazine, rape is any sex a woman regrets. When I was a kid and I heard a woman was raped, I shuddered because it was so horrible. But feminists have raped the word of meaning. Just like the civil rights establishment has raped the word racist. Now it can one who opposes affirmative action. Rape and racist have become meaningless terms. The New York Post writes: "THE Kobe Bryant case brings to mind the young Chuck Berry. The rock 'n' roll pioneer, like Kobe, was good-looking, famous, wealthy - and black. Berry, who toured all over America just like an NBA player, was always afraid he'd be charged with rape after having sex with willing women who flocked to his dressing room - not to say that Kobe's accuser is in this category. But Berry protected himself with a Polaroid camera. Before he'd have sex with a fan, he'd insist she strip and pose for a photo with him, smiling with their arms around each other. If Kobe had a Polaroid shot like that, he might have a much stronger defense." Uno writes: There is a good chance he can lose 20 million dollars annually because of potentially false accusations. I'm not saying they ARE false. I'm also not saying he did or didn't do it. The accusations are potentially way more life shattering for Kobe than for the accuser. He'll be famous for a long time to come and things like this have a tendency to haunt. She'll have her 15 minutes and thats it. Anyone committing such crimes against her ("This girl is going to have psychos calling her house, harrassing her at work and on the streets, putting bricks through her windows, etc.") SHOULD and will be prosecuted. Kevin Roderick Finds Charges Of Feminist Media Laughable Kevin Roderick places at the top of his site, LA Observed (one of my favorite sites on the web), this commendation of KCAL TV's coverage as the best by Ron Fineman: "I got no sense of bias from them, and they covered all the angles, including a story by KCAL's Joel Connable in which the rape expert said that only two percent of rape charges are false." Luke says:
Kevin replies: "Luke, if one comment in one report on one TV station is proof to you of a "feminist media," more power to you." Luke replies:
Kevin Roderick writes on LA Observed: "Feminist news media, yeah that's the problem here.... It bears repeating -- the accuser has done nothing except file a police report ands talk to the DA. She has made no public statements, done no dragging through any mud. As for standing behind her allegation, that happens in court. These claims to some high-minded principle behind publishing her contact info and ripping into her are worse than ludicrous." Luke writes LA Observed: Oh, so why the double standard then? Name the accused but not the accuser, who is almost always female? News organizations usually know the name of the accuser but they never name her. Kevin: "It bears repeating -- the accuser has done nothing except file a police report ands talk to the DA. She has made no public statements, done no dragging through any mud." Luke: "Well, she's certainly had tons of leaks from her side into the news media." Kevin: "These claims to some high-minded principle behind publishing her contact info and ripping into her are worse than ludicrous." Luke: "She chose to make herself a public figure by filing a charge against a star. If she wanted to avoid publicity, she should not have filed a criminal charge and simply learned from the experience - that you do not go to a man's hotel room alone unless you're up to having sex with him. Her past gives plenty of reasons for people to question and criticize her. It was her choice to try to commit suicide two months, and to try to get on American Idol. That indicates a person desperate for attention and possibly in need of psychiatric help." David "Hot Button" Poland replies to my post on LA Observed:
Kevin writes: "Luke, pick a date or an era when you and Prager think "the media" became "feminist." This so-called double standard of not naming victims of sex crimes will have existed before that." Luke says:
Chaim Amalek writes:
Kevin Roderick writes: "Luke, I'd like to believe that your passion here is because you're a purist about equal treatment of men and women, but I'm sorry I don't." Luke replies:
Amy Alkon writes: "A woman has a responsibility to act intelligently as far as her safety goes. If you go to the William Kennedy Smith compound late at night with one of the boys, what do you think is on the agenda, checkers in the library? Come on. Again, I'm not saying anybody should be raped, or that it's not horrible when someone is. Just that women need to fight the infantilism of the feminists and expect to look after their own safety by being reasonable and sensible about where they go and with whom." Releasing Name of Bryant's Accuser Stirs Debate on Online Standards Mark Glaser writes on ojr.org:
Kevin Roderick replies on LA Observed from the Olympian heights of a former Los Angeles Timeser who believes in sanitizing the news:
Notice how Kevin tweaks others for their lack of ethics, scoffs at outrageous claims, deigns to comment only five times, waits to take positions on the weighty questions bandied about by his inferiors, and then makes his early and gracious exit from the frothing rage while poor ol' Luke wanks, fantasizes nonsense, and debates like a fanatic. 7/27/03 More Sordid Details On Kobe Case Mike writes: Sunday night Matt Drudge reported on his nationally syndicated radio show (heard at 7:15 p.m. Pacific time on KFI-AM in Los Angeles) the most provocative "dirty sex details" of the Kobe Bryant sexual assualt case so far. Excerpt: "I've decided to reveal some of the dirty sex details of the case. I have been told it's anal sex. "That's why it's going to be controversial when it goes to trial. It's what is causing people a lot of uncomfortable feelings. "Some of the details (of the case) are explosive. Dateline (NBC) had some of this information and decided not to air it. This speculation is quite solid from where I sit." Digi writes: The way I've heard is that she was having sex with him and then he wanted to do anal and she didn't want to but he went ahead with it and kind of forced her into going along with it and it resulted in injuries to her and what not. 7/30/03 The case against Kobe Bryant will focus on injuries suffered by the alleged victim and the prosecution's belief that Bryant intentionally deceived law enforcement officials, sources familiar with the prosecution's case have told ESPN and ABC News. Those sources claim that Bryant met his alleged victim when she gave him a tour of the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, during which he extended an invitation for the woman to come to his room later that evening, which she accepted. The 19-year-old woman did go to Bryant's room the night of June 30, where she spent less than half an hour, according to the sources. ABC News sources claim that the two engaged in some consensual sexual activity in Bryant's room, but that the intercourse that took place was not consensual. Those same sources say that the alleged victim sustained some physical injuries, which Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlburt and his staff plan to say prove that the sex was not consensual. Kobe Bryant - Kate Faber Rape Case Randy Wyrick, of The Vail Daily, told the "Today" show that "they (Bryant and the alleged victim) began fooling around, as it were, and that part was consensual. She said 'no' shortly thereafter. She had enough. One of our sources also said she was trying to leave and was not allowed to leave." Wyrick also said that his sources told him that the alleged victim then turned up in the lobby in "a stupor" and with visible physical injuries. He also said that Bryant initially denied even knowing the victim. Fox News: Two hotel workers will give supporting testimony to the the claims of a 19-year-old Colorado woman that she was raped by Kobe Bryant. Fox News' Rita Cosby reported on her weekend "Big Story" program Saturday night that two hotel employees of the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera have given Eagle County, Colo., police investigators accounts that are consistent with claims made by her accuser. One hotel employee reportedly saw the girl moments after she left Bryant's room and describer her as "shocked and upset." Shortly after, the girl was driven home by a hotel bellman. Cosby reports that the bellman said the girl told him she was "forced to have sex with Kobe Bryant." The bellman also noted that the woman's clothing had been torn. The N.Y. Daily News: They have Kobe Bryant's DNA and his admission that he had sex with the 19-year-old Colorado woman who accused him of rape. They have the rape kit that was administered to the woman shortly after the alleged attack to analyze any bodily fluids, bruises and fibers for clues, although the results have not been made public. They have the woman's sworn statement and the clothes she and Bryant wore that night. And, the betting is, there is a lot more. But what has emerged so far is a string of statements - sometimes contradictory - by friends of the ostensible victim and anonymous sources that is producing a growing body of potential evidence against him that includes: Reports that the woman suffered "vaginal trauma" from her encounter with Bryant. An employee of the resort who found her shortly after the attack crying, wearing torn clothing and saying she had been forced to have sex with Bryant. Friends of the woman who stated that she had "clearly visible" bruises weeks after the encounter. Other guests at the hotel who reportedly called the front desk to complain about a ruckus coming from Bryant's room. Changes in his story by Bryant, who allegedly denied anything happened between him and the girl - but later said they had consensual sex. Her reliability will be tested by her two alleged suicide attempts in recent months, her reputation among friends as a celebrity chaser and what those friends say were her boasts that she had sex with a Justin Timberlake look-alike during an unsuccessful "American Idol" tryout. From THE VAIL DAILY: Two more reports regarding the Kobe Bryant case circulating among part of the national media were debunked Monday. Media reports that the 19-year-old woman who Bryant allegedly assaulted received a ride home is not the case, sources said Monday. Reports that her clothing was torn are also untrue, sources also. Sources told the Daily that the alleged victim managed to get herself home by 11:50 p.m., June 30, after ending the shift at the Lodge at Cordillera at around 11:10 p.m. They also said that while her clothing was disheveled and showed signs that something had occurred, it wasn't torn or ripped, as some reports indicated. "Some of the reports made it sound like something out of a bad movie," said one source. "It wasn't like that." The reports are part of a larger set of rumors and gossip that have been circulating across the country about the case. Among them: - That the alleged victim was in the room two hours. It was only about 20 minutes. - When she came down, she was hysterical. She was not. Sources said she was in a stupor and a state of shock. - A few days before the incident, the alleged victim had accused another hotel worker of sexual harassment, getting him fired. Not true, said the man who was terminated. It was not the alleged victim. Aug. 6— ABCNEWS has been told that examiners found evidence that the woman accusing NBA superstar Kobe Bryant of sexual assault had "vaginal tearing." 10/15/03 Better To Marry And Cheat... Dennis Prager says he prefers men like Kobe Bryant who commit to marriage and children, and commit adultery, to single men who go from woman to woman. I prefer a guy who drives for years and then has an accident to a guy who has never driven a car. If a 19 year old girl starts in with a macho basketball player, then decides to not go further, the guy should stop. But we live in an age where the concept of female responsibility for sex is zero. Women can start the motors running and then leave. And she's innocent and he's a brute. Maybe, darling, you should learn a lesson that you don't start in with a sports star at his hotel room if you don't plan to go through with sex. Five minutes of doing stuff is a lot of time. There's no relation between a stranger who rapes a woman and a man who starts in with a woman and doesn't stop when she asks him. You can't call both rape. The second isn't rape.
BigFish writes: So what exactly was she doing, as part of her job, sneaking up to his room voluntarily? POV guy writes: By flirting with him, accepting an invitation to his room, visiting his room and making out with him? Then f--king him? What hotels have this on the room service menues? I want a room for life. |