You've probably already seen these stories, but just in case, here's the links:
Bryant’s
attorneys want DNA samples
Evidence could prove accuser lied about sex life
Excerpt:
A former boyfriend of the woman accusing Kobe
Bryant of rape fought a request from
Bryant’s attorneys for a DNA sample, arguing
it would violate his constitutional rights.
The DNA samples could speak to the woman’s sexual
history, which will be key if [the judge]
allows it at trial. The defense says injuries
on the woman’s body could have been caused by
other sex partners in the days surrounding her
June 30 encounter with Bryant.
Point: I understand the boyfriend wanting to stay out of this.
If the semen proves he had sex
with the
accuser that day, he could be charged with sexually assaulting
her, too.
Bryant's
lawyers suggest bias in investigation
Defense says police ‘closed their eyes’ to potential evidence
Excerpt:
A defense lawyer asked a judge Monday to approve
expert witnesses he said will show that
the investigation of rape charges against Kobe
Bryant was shoddy enough to suggest bias against him.
“The failure to conduct the most ’regular’ police
procedure — investigation of a crime scene and
collection of physical evidence — suggests both
a bias against Mr. Bryant and a willful or reckless
unwillingness to consider the possibility that
Mr. Bryant committed no crime and that the accuser was
lying about the sexual encounter for ulterior
motives,” Haddon wrote.
Bryant’s defense team has accused sheriff’s investigators of ...violating court rules when they gathered evidence.
Defense attorneys say crime scene investigators
should have taken more photos, collected the chair that
was the site of the alleged assault, examined
carpet near the chair and collected material in waste baskets.
I'd personally like to take print-outs of these
stories and stuff them down the throats of all those ex-subscribers
of yours who dropped your site and called you
all kinds of a sexist pig because you dared to assert that Kobe
Bryant was entitled to the presumption of innocence.
As with many other issues, you had this one figured out months ago.
I hope you see fit to print this, because I have
something to say to all those women, and men, who were so quick
to kick you around. If you're still dropping
in on Bartcop.com occasionally, listen up. I was a member of
Philadelphia NOW in the 1970s, and I attended
the meeting where the subject of rape and the mistreatment of
rape victims by the system was discussed. At
the end of that meeting, a local artist named Jody Pinto stood up
and said, "We have to do something about this."
What she, and many others, did was to found Women Organized
Against Rape, the first rape victims' advocacy
group in the country. So believe me when I tell you that advocating
for rape victims most emphatically does not mean
it's OK to hang a {black} man just because a (white) woman
points her finger at him and says, "He raped
me."
In fact, one of the most frightening aspects of
this swing of the pendulum over to the attitude that the alleged victim
is never wrong and the accused man is guilty
until proven innocent, is how quickly this has been seized on by
right-wingers eager to use allegations of rape
as a club to beat down black men, or white men like Bill Clinton
who are hated for standing for progressive ideas.
Historically, accusations of rape have always been used to
"keep the n_____s in their place."
And if you think that (mostly) white Colorado
would not try a judicial lynching, consider this little historical tidbit:
in the 1920s, Colorado was run top to bottom
by the Ku Klux Klan. Their descendants probably still live there,
and are probably well entrenched in the power
structure and law enforcement.
So, Bart, good call. You can defend me in court anytime.
Keep hammerin'!
Ann in Philly (getting ready to party hearty for Smarty)
P.S. Thanks for the Preakness replay on BCR Show
39. I was working and couldn't get the broadcast.
What an
exciting race!