The Denver Postkobe bryant case
Apology got Bryant off hook
Friday, September 03, 2004 - Eagle - The critical element in the dismissal of the Kobe Bryant rape case was his apology to the accuser - an apology that relieved him of criminal liability and gave her no ammunition for a civil case.
Not long after questioning showed that many prospective jurors believed Bryant was innocent, negotiations to end the case began. They revolved around what Bryant's apology to the accuser would say and what its implications would be for the criminal and civil cases against Bryant. Meanwhile, the prosecution was facing another difficulty: a scathing motion in which defense attorney Pamela Mackey accused the prosecution of withholding key testimony. In that testimony, Dr. Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner for New York City, said it was impossible for him to tell whether Bryant's 20-year-old accuser had been raped. Baden had given that testimony to prosecutors months ago. But the prosecution, which had originally decided to call Baden to testify and then dropped the idea, didn't disclose Baden's findings to the defense. Not until Aug. 27 did Mackey find out about Baden's opinions. She filed a motion Tuesday to have the case dismissed, which was publicly released early Wednesday. By then, Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert knew Bryant's accuser did not want to continue with the case. What ensued was a frenzied afternoon of discussions involving the terms of Bryant's apology. The goal for the accuser's side, sources said, was to secure a public admission of regret. Bryant's side was able to end his criminal liability and ensure that nothing in the apology could be used in the civil lawsuit the accuser had filed against Bryant in U.S. District Court in Denver. The result was a flat sentence in the apology that read: "She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case." When he dropped the criminal case Wednesday, Hurlbert said he had plenty of evidence to support going forward. "In every case, there are ethical minimums in terms of quality of evidence for a prosecutor to go forward," Hurlbert said. But what Baden, now co-director of the Medicolegal Investigative Unit of the New York State Police, found was damaging to the prosecution. Baden, a forensic pathologist for 40 years, said Thursday that an examination of the accuser's vaginal-area injuries and a bruise to her jaw made it impossible to determine if the sex with Bryant was consensual. He said the accuser could be telling the truth but "it couldn't be independently verified." Baden said he initially turned down interviews with Bryant's defense team because of a gag order. But he said that when the district attorney's office said he could talk to Mackey, he told her of his conclusions. As a result, Bryant's defense filed the motion made public Wednesday. In it, Bryant's lawyers said the prosecution had failed to disclose evidence favorable to Bryant that "undermined the accuser's allegations and prosecution's case, and corroborated Mr. Bryant's defense on a central issue - the cause and significance of the accuser's alleged injuries."
Click here for a timeline of the People v. Bryant case.
Click here for the official court website with officials court orders, filings and documents in the case.
Click here to see a copy of the felony charges against Bryant in the PDF format. The charges were dropped Sept. 1.
Click here for the questions that were asked asked of potential jurors in the case.
Click here for an interactive presentation on Bryant's career.
Click here for the 9NEWS archive on the case.
Click here for the CourtTV archive on the case.
The second problem the prosecution faced in the two days before the case was dropped was a panel of jurors far from convinced of Bryant's guilt. The day before the defense motion regarding Baden, prosecutors asked Judge Terry Ruckriegle to remove potential jurors who stated on a jury questionnaire that Bryant is "probably not guilty" or "definitely not guilty" based on what they had read, seen or heard. David Lugert, an Eagle lawyer and former prosecutor, and jury consultant Karen Lisko, said prosecutor Ingrid Bakke's request was an indication that a number of potential jurors thought Bryant was not guilty. "The prosecution is perhaps concerned that they may have more jurors starting out in favor of the defense, when typically the bigger concern is that the criminal defendant is starting the game a few to several points behind," Lisko said. Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at hpankratz@denverpost.com or 303-820- 1929. Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com .
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