And, Bingo! Race Raised in Bryant Case

[TeaElle]

@Beagle

In the old days shimmer, shimmer it wasn’t uncommon for a white girl or woman to accuse a black man of rape after consensual sex with someone. If the “poor girl” was raped by a black man the community would go crazy with rage and ignore her having slept around. Basically, it was used as a cover story for consensual intercourse.

Ding Ding Ding We have a winnah!

And it wasn’t just consensual sex between a white woman and a black man, it could be a Hispanic man, a poor man, “the help” or anyone else who was not an “acceptable” sex partner. The rape accusation deflected the stigma that would be placed upon the woman for promiscuity or her “poor choice” of men.

@Zoe

Finally, the woman was taking medication for mental illness. There are two legal principles involved here. 1) People who take medication for mental illness can neither detect nor remember accurately what has happened to them sexually. 2) People with mental illnesses can never be raped.

I don’t think that’s a fair representation of the defense position at all. The question is whether or not the accuser has Bipolar Disorder which is/was not well controlled by medications. For those with Bipolar Disorder (BP, hereinafter) sexual promiscuity is a textbook “symptom,” so to speak, of a manic period. It is also textbook for rapid-cycling BD sufferers to get themselves into situations when they’re manic which they cannot explain satisfactorily once they have cycled back to a more “even keel” if you will.

Now think about the situation. Both parties agree that the accuser went to Kobe’s room late at night (1 a.m.?) and that whatever transpired thereafter was either a violent attack – to hear her say it – or a wild consensual escapade – according to him. There is apparently some evidence of choking bruises around her neck which may or may not have come from Bryant.

If this young woman does have BD, it presents an alternative explanation for what happened in that room that night and thereafter, and developing “alternate theories of the act” is an integral part of any criminal defense. Kobe’s lawyers would be derelict in their duties if they didn’t pursue this possibility.

IMO, it would also give aid to the accuser since she’s been otherwise tainted by some of the supposition made about her. BD would “explain” that much-publicized suicidal depression just weeks before the incident. It would explain the oft-discussed “rumor” that she may have had sex with three different men in the day(s) directly prior to the incident. It actually gives a basis for her behavior that makes more sense and is far more sympathetic than the idea that she’s just a nutty slut. If those kinds of behaviors were attached to my name, I’d be damned happy to add that there was also a legitimate, diagnosed, organic reason for them instead of it just being me being flighty and promiscuous. If it also helps an innocent man avoid prison for something that he shouldn’t have done but which wasn’t illegal, all the better.

Not that I’ve made a final decision about Kobe’s guilt or innocence, I’m simply drawing the defense team’s (presumed) alternative idea to it’s logical conclusion.

@labmonkey

But hey, Kobe is the one looking at a short period of probation and possibly community service OMG!

This is a joke, right? Kobe is facing a minimum of 16 years in prison with lifetime probation thereafter and a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. Colorado has enacted one of the toughest rape laws in the country. It’s good for victims and certainly serves to keep sexual predators under control, but it’s a helluva thing if someone is falsely accused and imprisoned on a circumstantial case. (And any case that comes down to he said she said as the “deciding” factor is 100% circumstantial pretty much by definition.)

[labmonkey]

Originally posted by TeaElle,
“This is a joke, right?”
Well,not really a joke, more of a sarcastic observation about celebrity justice. I just find it highly doubtfull that someone of Bryant’s stature in society will do hard time, and there were already a good number of posters coming out swinging for Kobe, based on past(and real) treatment of black men in cases of rape. Drawing that parallel in post-Juice America concerning the case of a very wealthy and pretty much universally respected sports figure is pretty dubious though. I personally don’t have any idea about his guilt or innocence, but I’d take odds that at the end of all this Kobe the superstar isn’t sitting around in Genpop for the next 16 years with Kobe the window washer. But hey, maybe I’m just being overly cynical, but then again probably not.

[hajario]

@Guinastasia

Um, wasn’t his accuser black?

Um, like totally, No.

Haj

[hajario]

Mentally ill women can be raped and promiscuous women can be raped. However, mentally ill women are more likely to not remember facts clearly and promiscuous women are more likely to sustain rape like injuries from an earlier recent partner. Therefore, both of these allegations about the woman are relevant to determining guilt or innocence. The race thing is, in this particular case, bullshit and may actually cause backlash.

A couple of friends of mine who are lawyers independently told me that this would never have come to trial if it did not involve a famous person. There simply isn’t enough evidence. They feel that the DA either didn’t want to have the appearence of bias by letting a famous person go or is getting a hard on by being in the spotlight. I have no idea if this is true or not but it seems credible.

Haj

[Beagle]

I agree that false accusations are made all the time. Susan Smith’s black “attacker” was actually apprehended in a little town in GA I once lived in.

Doh!

Critically, he was soon released – in hours or days, not weeks.

In modern times, assuming professional cops using modern investigatory methods,* false stories have far less currency. One sperm does not “look” like the other any more.

As much as I agree with most of the mud-slinging by the defense team so far, and I do, this race card seems odd. It only makes sense if you don’t think about it much. We KNOW they swapped bodily fluids. ALL that matters is consent.

Moreover, based on my trips to Colorado Springs and the ski areas, I don’t think that a ill-conceived race argument is going to hold much water. Colorado is not South Central, Oakland, NY, or Miami.

I’m not saying I agree with what the defense team is slinging, but it’s their job. Otherwise the prosecution will use their bully pulpit and filings to build a media case against Bryant without any counterspin. Also the lack of a real defense to the physical act of intercourse limits what the defense can do. Attacking the accuser is essential in a case like this.

As noted by others, this is a very weak case. The accuser did too many things to arrange privacy with the defendant. There was a list of facts floating around after one of the preliminary hearings. It appears, based on what was recorded, that the accuser did all she could to get close to Bryant. That does NOT mean she consented to the act itself. But, it complicates the case beyond all belief compared to a non-acquaintance rape. The presumption of innocence is going to be tough to overcome when the accuser appeared to want to have sex with the defendant right up until the moment they entered the room together.
*Yes, one cannot assume this all the time.

[Guinastasia]

Jesus Christ, I just asked. I thought she was. My mistake.