Is the Bryant case the beginning of the end for rape shield laws?

[11 Bravo]

I can not believe that Kobe's accuser will be required to submit to detailed questioning about any sexual activity she may have had from the summer of 2002 through August 2003! This is precisely the type of outrageous treatment which causes so many victims of sexual assault to either fail to report it, or refuse to press charges. I have a wife, a mom, and two sisters who I love with all my heart . I think rape is one of the most abhorrent offenses on the books. I would NEVER, EVER, under any circumstances, wish for any woman to be assaulted in such a vile fashion. But if perchance Pamela Mackey (Kobe's lawyer) should fall prey to a sexual predator; then I hope that her name and reputation are dragged through the mud in the exactly the same manner as the 19 year old victim in this case.

[Jacobin]

1. Remember the sportscaster dude who was accused of

raping his long time girlfriend when he broke up with her?

She used as evidence bite marks on her back. The deal was they had always had kinky sex with some mild sadism tossed in.

Guess what? The history of their sexual past was excluded by the judge and he couldn't prove that this was typical of their lovemaking. Therefore he had to plead guilty to something that was obviously a revenge prosecution.

The shield laws do not always work as intended, although the idea behind them is certainly laudable.

[Kagemusha]

2. I'm guessing yes.

They've finally found a way to kill it, by making it "reasonable" that a woman, whose life and liberty is not at stake, must undergo a cross-examination about "a few days" before and after a rape by a defendant, who could be, my god, put in jail. (Wonder why..)

I've seen this coming with disdain and disgust for months. Now it's finally here.

[mstrsplinter326]

3. The number one reason

The reason this girls name has been pissed on so badly is due to the Eagle County Sheriff's Department. I believe that if law enforcement can properly execute an investigation, we'd have no such problem.

-And-

Of all of the national 'expert witness' lawyers for the major networks (you know the ones we all saw for OJ and Martha...) all agree that this is a matter of publicity for Eagle County and has very little merit as an actually rape case. Many were surprised it made it to trial, and say they think, if it weren't Kobe, it would have been dropped. Who's privacy is also being invaded...

[Kagemusha]

4. I'd reply but it would seem too "inflammatory".

nt

[11 Bravo]

7. The real reason this girl's name has been "pissed on so badly"

is the fact that Pamela Mackey repeatedly, and in violation of the judge's instructions, revealed the victim's name in open court! After each instance Ms. Mackey smirked and claimed that it had been an accident. Soon after, the death threats and the internet smear campaign against the accuser began. Pamela Mackey should have been held in contempt, fined, and/or jailed.

[displacedtexan]

5. Someone wisely posted a perfect analogy here last year:

If I am robbed at my neighborhood ATM, will my previous ATM use history be used against me if I press charges against my attacker?

[sidwill]

6. Shouldn't Bryant

Be allowed to vigorously defend these charges? After all he is the one who might go to jail over this.

In our country you are innocent until proven guilty, denying him a valid avenue of defense would pose an unfair burden to his defense.

[kiahzero]

8. Bryant's defense is valid

The prosecution is claiming that the girl has PTSD... if she did, she wouldn't be having sex with another man right afterward. Not only that, but if she had sex with several men in a short period of time, some injuries wouldn't be unusual (especially if it were vigorous).

Do you have the same qualms about defendants having their sexual history released?

[11 Bravo]

13. The P in PTSD stands for post.

Onset may vary from a few hours to a few years. Furthermore, I don't care if the young woman decided to fuck the Denver Broncos on Wednesday. That would not retroactively give anyone the right to take her against her will on Tuesday. As for the defendant's sexual history, I am not aware of a large number of innocent accused rapists who have had their sexual history widely reported. I do, however, have a friend who works at a rape crisis center, and she informs me that in our little town alone there are anywhere from 5-10 victims of sexual assault EVERY YEAR who refuse to proceed with a complaint because they fear the exact sort of abuse that is playing out right now in Colorado.

[kiahzero]

14. I wasn't saying anyone had that right

I don't care if the young woman decided to fuck the Denver Broncos on Wednesday. That would not retroactively give anyone the right to take her against her will on Tuesday.

You're purposefully trying to take my words out of context. The argument is that she may not have been taken against her will at all, not that her later actions justified it.

I do, however, have a friend who works at a rape crisis center, and she informs me that in our little town alone there are anywhere from 5-10 victims of sexual assault EVERY YEAR who refuse to proceed with a complaint because they fear the exact sort of abuse that is playing out right now in Colorado.

This is circular logic - you assume that the defense's strategy is wrong, and then use that to infer that the strategy is wrong. If it's relevant to the case, it's not "abuse" to bring it up.

While looking for information on the release of defendant's sexual histories, I stumbled across this story:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/bryant/021104_rapeshield_ctv.html

In an unusually detailed motion in December, the defense claimed to have evidence that Bryant's accuser had sexual intercourse between the 18 hours she says she was raped by Bryant and her sexual-assault examination at a hospital.

The motion stated that semen and sperm found in the woman's underwear did not belong to Bryant, and the woman told police that she had put on clean underwear sometime between the alleged assault and the hospital visit.

This isn't exactly a fishing expedition... they've clearly got some information.

[StClone]

9. Kobe's sex life should be front stage

Bring all the past lovers out to show his tendencies.

Maybe a few would say they were raped too. How could they keep this out court disclosure if they would be submitting her history?

[kiahzero]

10. They already can bring out his history

From what I've read, the prosecution uses the sexual history of the defendant against him as standard operating procedure.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Not The End. But The Beginning Of Revision

While i support shield laws in principle, there are some issues with how they've been implemented, especially here in IL. If the purpose is to assure justice is served, the laws need to be balanced to serve justice in all directions.

The victim should, of course, never be blamed. And i don't ever accept the "she was asking for it" defense. But, we've had at least 3 cases in the last 4 years which were overturned on appeal, when the victim's history turned out to be so relevant that it was actually unlikely a rape had even occurred. In all three cases, the retrials ended in NG verdicts. I don't know the details as to how that happened, but all three guys were found to have not been guilty of rape.

That could mean that the appeals lawyers did a good job of circumventing the intent of the law, and got off guilty men with a shrewd courtroom manuever. It could also mean that 3 men ended up in prison for a crime they didn't actually commit.

Either way, there is something wrong with a law that does neither what it's supposed to do, nor assure justice. May not be true in every state, but if it's true in just one place, that's one place too many.
The Professor

[kiahzero]

12. But don't you understand?

Kobe's a black sports star, which means he's guilty! Guilty as sin! Guilty as Tom Robinson, even!

Sorry, but it bothers me that there are some who are absolutely shocked, *shocked*, that Kobe's lawyer is actually trying to defend him to the best of her ability.