Assuming there was no one else in the room during the act, she has bruising of some kind, and testing is positive for accused party’s sperm, how is anyone going to judge this in real world terms? Consensual sex that may have gotten a little rough or rape?
Assuming no history of false or exaggerated claims on her part or past sexual predation on his comes to light, how is a jury going to react? Do you choose females for sympathy if accuser’s lawyer or will this backfire if accuser is not sympathetic or they think she is a slut? Do you choose males if you are Kobe’s lawyer or will this backfire if they get the impression he is BSing them?
How does a lawyer choose a jury for a case like this?
If I were the defense attorney I would choose females, using the theory that they would be more likely to be skeptical of the accuser. Continuing the theory, if they identify with the accuser, they might also project their own potential for dark motives onto her. After all, they know what women can be like.
Female checking in: I have to disagree - if I was Kobe’s attorney, I’d choose an all-male jury. For obvious reasons.
(I also majored in cynical! I think I remember you from that class, Iracus – the final exam was a breeze, wasn’t it?)
Again, extending the theory, male jurors might project their own potential for dark motives onto the accused. After all, they know what men can be like!
A possible strategy of the defense attorney would be to ask, “Is it possible she went to his room to take something away for herself? Be it a night to remember and brag about, OR a little Kobe Jr. to support his mother in a manner she could get accustomed to, OR cash money by claiming rape?”
A male juror could intellectually say, “Yes, it is possible.”
But, our defense attorney might guess that a female juror has more potential for internalizing the answer as, “Oh yes, it is definitely possible.”
Obviously, we’re not talking about any and all female jurors. We wouldn’t want gray haired ladies who sing in the church choir.
It’s not hard to imagine how having women on the jury might backfire for the prosecution. Kobe comes in all dapper every day, smiling at the jury box. What a nice guy, that Kobe. Cute too. I think he likes me. Or, that’s what they’ll start thinking after he smiles at them enough. Next thing you know they’ve convinced themselves the accuser entraped Kobe for the potential civil settlement.
OTOH, certain women would be your best jurors. You need more information to pick a jury than gender. What you don’t want if your a prosecuter is anyone who idolizes Kobe.
To me the venue is important. Colorado means Nuggets fans. If this trial was in Los Angeles, Kobe would be as good as free already. In Colorado, that’s a whole different story.
The kind of persons you want on the jury as the defense, generally, are older women (middle-aged or older) with conservative backgrounds. Such women are more likely to be critical of the behavior and attitude of the (female) victim: her mode of dress, her behavior, her sexual history.
The kind of persons you want on the jury as the prosecution are, generally, men, preferably old enough to be married. Men at that age will find it easy to associate the victim with their own wife or their daughter. As a result, they are more likely to be hard on the attacker.
I’ve never tried such a case, but I am an attorney and a rape crisis center volunteer, and I’ve been told the above by many people in both areas.
Now that’s just hitting below the belt. Seriously Basketball is not much of a sport in Colorado. I have honestly met two people in my entire life in Denver who claimed to be Nuggets fans, and less than 10 percent give a damn about pro basketball at all. I simply can not imagine basketball rivalry even remotely being a factor.
