NOT the kind of SI cover you want to be on.
In the summer of 2003, Kobe Bryant was scheduled to have knee surgery in Vail, CO on July 2, so he booked a room at the nearby Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Eagle, CO. The surgery was a success, but on July 4, Bryant flew from Los Angeles back to Eagle to turn himself in to local police under an arrest warrant for sexual assault charges. Bryant was released on a $25,000 bond, but news stories began surfacing. To the media, this was the first sign of any wrongdoing by Bryant, so it came as a huge surprise to find that he had been arrested.
Katelyn Faber, a 19-year old worker at the hotel, claimed that Bryant had called her up to his room on July 1 and they began flirting. The flirting led to kissing which led to sex; Faber claimed it was sexual assault while Bryant claimed it was consensual. One of the iconic images of the entire situation was Bryant in tears at a press conference on July 18, with his wife by his side, apologizing for committing adultery, but preaching his innocence to the sexual assault charges.
Pretty darn emotional.
Everything about the trial was a huge mess. During investigation, examiners found multiple male "DNA" samples on Faber's clothes and it was revealed that she had multiple sexual partners around the same time as Bryant. The defense also highlighted the fact that Faber was taking anti-anxiety pills at the time and had been suicidal a few months prior to the incident.
The accuser's name was leaked to the public, information about her sexual history were accidentally exposed and the defense publicly called her a "sexually promiscuous liar and drug abuser." Because of the intrusive nature of the trial, Faber elected not to testify in court and the District Attorney, Mark Hurlbert, requested that the judge drop the criminal trial, and on September 1 it was no more.
It was also revealed that Faber had filed a civil suit just a few weeks prior to September 1 to collect damages from Bryant. Experts say that she wanted the criminal charges to get dropped because if it did not go well, she would not have been able to get as much money in the civil trial. The two sides settled in the civil trial for an amount that has not been disclosed to the public.
Some say Bryant may have gotten off easy, but overall it seemed like the evidence was too questionable for a guilty verdict. Bryant's popularity took a hit, dropping his #8 jersey sales and losing endorsements with McDonalds and Nutella. The Los Angeles Lakers won NBA titles in 2009 and 2010 and years later, this incident is hardly even an afterthought of the career of Kobe Bryant.
Bryant has then changed to #24 and jersey sales are near the top of the charts.
At 26yrs old I didn't care for Kobe, but at 43 he's I guy i have to like a lot. More so after his injury this year. I found in that interview Kobe has a human side to him. Down home and real. Good luck Kobe.
ReplyDeleteJust like oj simpson michael jackson and all black celebrities . They are always innocent
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