Kobe...Guilty or innocent? What's the early verdict from hR?

[jsarno]

I know the trial just started, but hearing the opening arguments, do you think Kobe is guilty or innocent?

[Green-Is-Good]

GUILTY

[AGibbsGirl]

Guilty

[Seebs]

consensual relation -> innocent

[PennSkinsFan]

Guilty as hell! These guys get money and popularity and think they can do whatever they want.

[Green-Is-Good]

I don't normally watch MAD TV, but just a few weeks ago, they had a music video. It was hilarious. "Bryant", played by one of MAD's actors, sang "I'm not guilty, it was con-sen-sual. I don't belong in a jail cell." In one of the later verses, he sang "I'm not guilty. I'm not La-trell Spre-well." Did anyone else see it?

[Chief Seeway]

I have a feeling he will be found guilty.

[jsarno]

I just find it hard to believe her story. How did he hold her around the neck and no bruises or red hand marks be found? How come she did not have signs of any rape had occured?
How come any woman be forced to preform ORAL sex. I mean come on...if she really didnt want it...BITE. You're right in the mans most sensative area and you didn't hit it?
I also find it hard to believe that being as tall as he is, he easily raped her from behind while holding her neck.
How come NO ONE heard a scream?

The only thing that puzzles me on her side is that she didn't take a settlement. But the evidence reeks of innocence IMO.

[Skins57]

I am not sure yet, It seems he might hve been a rich spoiled punk and took what he wanted but what if she said she would and then went for the money. I am not sure is what I am saying

The one thing I do know is he was a complete fool for cheating on his wife with a new baby. His wife should leave him. PLain and simple

[ShaggySkins]

Guilty

[rskinsfan10]

Too close to call.

[NCskinsfanatic]

I think that Kobe made a serious error in judgement b/c he is a star and thought that he could have his cake and eat it too.However i dont think he raped her.I think there are underlying factors here.Wasnt it leaked that she had tried to commit suicide earlier and that in my mind questions her mental stability.If he did force himself on her then in noway do i condone his actions.But in this scenario his star power works against him.He commited adultery but b/c someone we know little about claims that he raped her it must be true?If he's guilty he deserves to pay but if she simply sees a way to make all her problems disappear and gain something from this process then how do we know.It would be a lot easier for her to say it wasnt consentual than it will be for kobe to prove it was.

[dj_stouty]

Way too close to call...

But I agree with NCskinsfanatic. Why on earth would Kobe put himself in that situation, when he had so much to lose?

[hail2skins]

I'm on the fence on this one too. We don't really know what happened and we probably never will. I'll tell you this, Mackey came out swinging in the prelims.

[jsarno]

Originally posted by dj_stouty
Why on earth would Kobe put himself in that situation, when he had so much to lose?

Why does ANY athlete do it? Basketball is one of the worst of the bunch. Remember a few years bakc the article ESPN did on the illegitimate children fathered from NBA players? Shawn Kemp had like 50 of them. This is nothing new.
Let us not forget one of the most prestigious embassidors of the NBA Magic Johnson, got HIV from promiscuity. Larry Bird had a child out of wedlock during his career as well. We need to face the facts that the NBA gets sex thrown at them every day. Should Kobe not have done it? ABSOLUTELY. But I can't sit here and judge him for something I have never been tempted with. None of us understand that because none of us have had the sex begging us everyday from MANY different FINE women. (except of course da funky 4)

I just hope ALL the evidence is brought out..and if this woman is lieing, I want to see her rot in jail.
Of course if Kobe is lieing, I want him to rot there as well.

[skinsfan44]

To close to call.

I am leaning towards guilty. He should have not put himself in that position, being alone with that woman in the first place. He is married with a new kid and he is off with this girl in some hotel room?

I also thought Mike Tyson was innocent of rapping that girl, but he too put himself in that position of being alone in a hotel room with some woman. It is their word against Kobe's and Mike's.

And most of the time, the woman will win. Case closed.

[jsarno]

problem is, it doesn't matter if he's a "cheater", it matters if he raped her. Being off in a hotel room with someone other than your wife in teh NBA is quite common.
The woman had sex with 3 different men in 3 different nights, but that still doesn't mean she was or wasn't raped.

[AZ#1SkinsFan]

I think hes guilty, but will be found innocent because of her promiscuous past, her mental instability and more than anything, Kobe is Kobe. He was a "model citizen" in the countries eyes. There is no way to find an impartial jury, they all loved him as a player and "role model". Its too bad. What a shame.

[jsarno]

Originally posted by AZ#1SkinsFan
I think hes guilty, but will be found innocent because of her promiscuous past, her mental instability and more than anything, Kobe is Kobe. He was a "model citizen" in the countries eyes. There is no way to find an impartial jury, they all loved him as a player and "role model". Its too bad. What a shame.

very good points.

[TexSkin]

I still believe in innocent until proven guilty...nothing that has been shown to me has erased reasonable doubt from my mind so not guilty until they show me otherwise.

[dukeuch]

Originally posted by jsarno
problem is, it doesn't matter if he's a "cheater", it matters if he raped her. Being off in a hotel room with someone other than your wife in teh NBA is quite common.
The woman had sex with 3 different men in 3 different nights, but that still doesn't mean she was or wasn't raped.

It was interesting that the defense attorney specifically said said "three different men in three different nights". I know lots of women who have had sex with three different men in three different nights. Now, if it were three different men in LESS than three nights, or three different men three nights in a row, that might show some promiscuity.

Believe me, if the attorney meant on three consecutive nights, she would have said so. Instead she said it in a way that she knew everyone would assume was three consecutive nights without actually making the acusation. It may have been three different nights months apart.

I agree that promiscuity does not preclude rape.

[IowaSkinsFan]

Originally posted by PennSkinsFan
Guilty as hell! These guys get money and popularity and think they can do whatever they want.

I agree here. The money and popularity allows the defense lawyer to introduce any garbage they want as a defense. Anyone catch what the defense lawyer said at the pretrial, about having sex with 3 guys in 3 days?

[jsarno]

I doubt that the semen and hair in her panties (as EVIDENCE given by her) showing that it's not Kobe's DNA will help her case.

After hearing all these facts, it's an overwhelming HELL NO he's not guilty.
No DNA (but DNA of someone else), no vaginal bruising related to rape, no screams, no bruises ANYWHERE including the neck which she says was how Kobe was holding her, NOTHING adds up on her end.
At this point, Kobe's defense could argue that he didn't even have sex with her and get away with it. At least Kobe said he did have sex with her and was honest. I fully believe him now.

If he is found guilty I'd be willing to throw our entire judicial system in the garbage. Any system that allows OJ to be set free, and convicts a man of rape with 100% NO PROOF, then this is a terrible system.

[AZ#1SkinsFan]

Originally posted by AZ#1SkinsFan
I think hes guilty, but will be found innocent because of her promiscuous past, her mental instability and more than anything, Kobe is Kobe. He was a "model citizen" in the countries eyes. There is no way to find an impartial jury, they all loved him as a player and "role model". Its too bad. What a shame.

I take my guilty statement back. The more evidence the defense has brought out in this case the more I'm starting to believe this ho is nothing but a gold digging slut.

She had an another mans semen on her panties when she went to the doctors to be checked out.

She had sex with 3 different men in the 3 days before the "Kobe Incident". Her doctor said her injuries are consistent to having sex with 3 people in 3 days.

Kobe also got checked out and showed absolutely no signs of her stuggling in any way.

The first report of the night auditor (first person the ho talked to after the "incident" said the she did not say anything to him, she did not look or sound upset in any way.



___________

I guess I don't know whether he is guilty or not, but all this evidence makes it hard for me to believe that she did not consent.

Here is a link with above mentioned updates.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1638553

[dukeuch]

Originally posted by AZ#1SkinsFan
I take my guilty statement back. The more evidence the defense has brought out in this case the more I'm starting to believe this ho is nothing but a gold digging slut.

She had an another mans semen on her panties when she went to the doctors to be checked out.

She had sex with 3 different men in the 3 days before the "Kobe Incident". Her doctor said her injuries are consistent to having sex with 3 people in 3 days.

Kobe also got checked out and showed absolutely no signs of her stuggling in any way.

The first report of the night auditor (first person the ho talked to after the "incident" said the she did not say anything to him, she did not look or sound upset in any way.



___________

I guess I don't know whether he is guilty or not, but all this evidence makes it hard for me to believe that she did not consent.

Here is a link with above mentioned updates.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1638553

I think the def attorney actually said she had sex with three different men in three nights, not three men the three nights prior. I think she did this specifically to imply that it was three sonsecutive nights prior without actually saying it. Some commentators pointed out that this assertion probalby will not have anything to do with evidence presented in court if it goes to trial, but rather is an attempt to "poison" the local jury pool to obtain a change in venue.

[SkinsKY]

I have a hard time believing that the jury will convict him since less popular players have gotten off (Ray-Ray and OJ), but I'm not sure how I feel about his guilt. I think it's quite possible that she consented, but I also think that if she were to say no, he would still probably have gotten his way figuring no one would buy it, given his celebrity.

[truant]

I think he's innocent. She seems unstable from all that i've read reguarding the case. All the evidence is in the favor of the defense and the prosecution is making a horrible case.

[LadyNRedskinsfan]

i think its too close to call because i need to see/hear more evidence...

[sneeks]

First off why does any guy cheat? I don't know either we just do. but i dont think he raped her. i live about 10 min. from staples center in LA, and I hear about this stuff all day long on the radio.EVERY DAY. she is a crazy lady that wants attention. Im sure she knows that by claiming rape she has a 50/50 chance of becoming rich and famous but, i think he will get off only because he has all the $$ he has. otherwise he would already have been in custody rotting in jail