Bryant will be tough to beat

by Dan Wetzel
August 7, 2003




I've covered rape trials involving athletes, and I've covered Kobe Bryant since he was 16. That's enough for me to believe the following: In the case of Kobe Bean Bryant vs. the State of Colorado, the State has one long, arduous road ahead of it.

While the speculation, evidence leaks and endless, breathless attention being paid to this case mount – more networks carried Wednesday's eventless bond hearing than January's State of the Union address – the reality is that none of it amounts to anything.

Nothing significant should happen in Bryant's case until Oct. 9, when the state has to disclose enough evidence to convince Judge Frederick Gannett that a trial should be held. Only then will we get an accurate glimpse at the state's case.

For prosecutor Mark Hulbert's sake, it had better be significant. If there is no smoking gun here, no overwhelming, irrefutable evidence – and in rape trials there rarely is – convicting Bryant is going to be exceedingly difficult.

The rape trials I've covered have boiled down to two simple questions: 1) Whom do jurors believe? and, 2) Do they believe them so much that they are willing to either send the accused to prison, ruining his life, or bet that he is not a threat to society?


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It is almost always about personality and plausibility – even more so when the defendant is famous.

Which is why Bryant has an ace in the hole, the ultimate star witness – himself.

Bryant is one of the most magnetic, charismatic, articulate and intelligent people you will ever meet. And not just among athletes.

Over the last 10 years I've interviewed nearly every major American basketball star when they were still in high school, and Bryant at age 16 had more confidence and charisma than any of them.

More than LeBron James. More than Kevin Garnett. More than Shane Battier, although Battier was more intelligent and James possessed more megawatt star power.

If Bryant wants you to like him and he can look you in the eye, he can usually make it happen. Over the years Bryant has seen this trait grow, not recede.

Jurors are going to meet a calm, reasonable and classy young man. A believable, likable guy. An intelligent, non-threatening person. That's the crux of the prosecution's problem.

Evidence is always the challenge in rape trials, especially when the defendant admits there was sexual conduct as has Bryant. What seems irrefutable to one person might not to someone else.

The way to get a guilty verdict is to have a defendant who seems like the kind of person who is capable of the crime of which he is accused and, especially where the rich and famous are involved, would do it again.

To put someone such as Bryant behind bars is to snuff out a storybook life, and that isn't something people are usually comfortable doing. That's the main reason the state already has offered a lengthy probation as a possible sentence in lieu of prison time. No prison time allows fence-sitters among the jury to lean toward guilt.

The last famous athlete to stand trial for rape was boxer Mike Tyson, who is almost the polar opposite of Bryant. Tyson is uneducated, inarticulate and physically muscular and menacing. It wasn't difficult for a jury to envision Tyson as dangerous. That's Iron Mike. He was trained to hurt people. He was trained well.

That's not Bryant, however.

Notice he didn't hire Johnnie Cochran or some other flamboyant, showboat lawyer. He didn't need to. The low-key but highly respected duo of Pamela Mackey and Hal Hadden will pick apart the evidence and then put Bryant up on the stand and let him work his magic, his charm.

That is where Bryant is at his best.

The prosecution's challenge is to find a way to stop a charismatic and convincing personality from winning over just one juror – all it takes, remember, to stymie a guilty verdict in a criminal case. It won't be easy, especially if recent news leaks about the lack of overwhelming evidence are true.

Until Oct. 9, when we find out more, that's speculation of course. Only then will we get a peek at the prosecution's hand.

But for Hulbert's sake, he'd better be strong. The defendant he is charging will be as formidable an opponent in a court as he is on one.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist.


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