The fact is that if it were an everyday man charged
with rape, the outcome would likely have been the exact
opposite. Had Kobe been your average middle class or
poor individual he’d likely be on his way to a
jail cell right now.
The numbers don’t lie. According to the U.S.
Criminal Justice Sourcebook (2002) People in the age
range 19-30, which Kobe falls in, comprise 47 percent
of those individuals convicted of violent offenses.
Strike one.
According to those same numbers, 92.7 percent of
those individuals convicted of violent offenses were
men.
Strike two.
Getting specific to the charges in this case, 86.5
percent of defendants in sexual abuse cases in this
country were convicted.
Strike three.
The statistics are practically insurmountable. Whether
you believe his innocence or not, by the numbers Kobe
should be getting ready for prison ball right about
now.
Fighting this sort of a battle with the odds so far
slanted against you requires an abnormal amount of
luck.
How does that saying go? “You make your own
luck.” Well, Kobe was just lucky that he’s
a rich man who wasn’t messing around with your
average court-appointed attorney. He’s also
lucky that in a he said/she said legal battle the
idea of personal integrity, honesty, and character
take center stage.
It’s just lucky that Kobe has been working
for years through television interviews, advertising
campaigns, and public appearances at projecting an
image of honesty and integrity to millions of people
all across the nation. He’s also lucky that
the trial and the people, places, and events involved
in the trial were guaranteed to receive media scrutiny
and be as publicized as any event in the history of
the judicial system. Indeed, Kobe had a great deal
of luck on his side.
Now, I know that whether or not you get a court appointed
or private attorney does not translate into a better
defense, statistically speaking. So, money can’t
have played that much of a role, right?
Wrong, totally wrong. Sure, a private attorney may
not make much of a difference. Kobe’s legal
fees have been surmised by some legal analysts to
be as much as anywhere from 8-10 million dollars.
He didn’t pay all that money for substandard
defense. Pamela Mackey is widely recognized as one
of the most highly skilled and respected criminal
defense attorneys in the state of Colorado. They had
potentially damaging background on his accuser, and
DNA evidence that might have raised more than a few
questions.
Luck came in the form of mistakes and mishaps that
occurred at the hands of the court. The court releasing
documents with the name of Kobe’s accuser included
on them, the release of transcripts to the media that
were not for publication, and overall the wilting
of the Eagle County court system under the pressure
was a tremendous stroke of luck. Of course without
the attention a man like Kobe Bryant garners from
the national media the court system would not have
had to deal with nearly as much pressure or intense
scrutiny.
Even once you get past the lucky breaks that went
the way of the Kobe Bryant defense team, there’s
still the matter of Kobe’s life outside the
courtroom.
Considering he was being charged with rape, the trial
had about as minimal an affect on Kobe’s everyday
life as one could hope for. His wife now sports a
four million-dollar diamond ring, but she hasn’t
lifted a finger to sign divorce papers as of yet.
Kobe played throughout the entire 2003-2004 NBA season.
He even played in the NBA Finals. In the off-season
he signed a new 136 million dollar contract after
flirting with the idea of signing with the Denver
Nuggets of all teams. Yes, Denver, as in Colorado!
Kobe was reportedly even given some input into the
hiring of the new head coach selected by the Los Angeles
Lakers.
If we were talking about a bricklayer from Philly
instead of Kobe Bryant, there would be some subtle
differences.
First of all, that wife of his might very well be
an ex-wife.
Next, its highly doubtful that he’d be able
to count on a new multi-million dollar contract unless
that bricklayers union has made tremendous strides
lately. Kobe the bricklayer would be glad to simply
have a job. You know he probably wouldn’t even
ask to be consulted on the hiring of his new boss.
Another difference would be that instead of an outpouring
of support, Kobe the bricklayer might have to deal
with an outpouring of protest from women’s rights
and sexual abuse activist groups. Newspaper articles
might simply list him as the defendant in a sexual
abuse case, as opposed to the famous face accused
of the unthinkable.
Also, had circumstances been changed, it very well
might be him who received death threats, and not the
woman accusing him of sexual assault.
Alas, Kobe Bryant won’t be assigned a job in
masonry in the near future.
Who would have ever thought Kobe Bryant would provide
the perfect example of the democratic presidential
campaign platform. “Two Americas,” is
a phrase John Kerry and John Edwards have been riding
throughout their quest for the white house.
If you think Kobe is the only example in the judicial
system—you’re overly naïve. Back
in 1991 the U.S. Sentencing Commission delivered a
special report to Congress on mandatory minimum penalties
in the federal justice system. Back then the finding
were that African Americans and Hispanics were more
likely to receive sentences at or above the mandatory
minimum. Also noted in the report was the fact that
whites were the ones who most frequently receive downward
departures from the minimums.
Times haven’t changed so much since 1991.
According to the Sentencing Project, in 1996, 64
percent of jail inmates had monthly incomes of under
$1,000 in the month before their arrest.
In 1999 Washington, D.C., federal judge Stanley Sporkin
was quoted in The New Republic as telling a congressional
committee his hands were tied in sentencing. Saying
specifically, “If this person were from a different
socioeconomic background, he would have gone to the
Betty Ford Clinic for sixty to ninety days.”
Whether or not Skip knew it when he posted his statement
on ESPN’s message board he was indicating that
he just become awakened to words of John Kerry and
John Edwards. There are in fact two Americas.
One for the rich, and one for the poor.
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