Case against Kobe Bryant dismissed

The Kobe case is over. The presiding judge agreed on Wednesday night to the prosecution's request to dismiss sexual assault charges against Bryant after his accuser told prosecutors she was no longer willing to testify in the case.

EAGLE, Colo. -- The Kobe Bryant case collapsed Wednesday as prosecutors abruptly dropped the sexual assault charge against the NBA star, saying his 20-year-old accuser no longer wanted to participate after a series of embarrassing courthouse gaffes.

The dramatic turn in the case against one the NBA's brightest young stars came in the middle of jury selection and less than a week before opening statements were scheduled to begin. Prosecutors insisted they had enough evidence to win a conviction despite losing a key series of pretrial rulings.

"This decision is not based upon a lack of belief in the victim -- she is an extremely credible and an extremely brave young woman," District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said outside the courthouse. "Ultimately, we respect her decision 100 percent."

In a statement from his attorney, Bryant apologized for his "behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year."

"Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did," said Bryant, a married father of one who still faces a civil lawsuit filed by the woman that seeks unspecified damages.

The statement, Bryant's attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon told ESPN's Jim Gray, was a condition of the woman withdrawing her testimony.

"Kobe was facing life in prison for a crime he did not commit," they told Gray. "The accuser insisted on that statement as the price for his freedom. The statement doesn't change the facts: Kobe is innocent and now he is free."

Prosecutors spent at least $200,000 preparing for what was expected to be one of the most closely watched trials in the nation, and one that had gripped this mountain town and much of Colorado for 14 months. Yet the case would have ultimately rested on the testimony of a young woman the defense suggested was a promiscuous, attention-seeking liar. And after mistakes that revealed her identity, at least two death threats and relentless media attention, she apparently had had enough.

"The difficulties that this case has imposed on this woman the past year are unimaginable," said John Clune, one of her attorneys. he said she has been through a difficult time and was particularly disturbed by mistakes including the release of her name on a state courts Web site and her medical history to attorneys.

With the parents of the woman looking on, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle threw out the case under a deal that means charges will not be refiled. He said he took full responsibility for the gaffes, but blamed Colorado lawmakers for slashing the budgets of the judicial system.

Kobe Bryant, with his attorney Pamela Mackey on Wednesday morning, won't have to return to Eagle, Colo.

Ruckriegle also said the case ended without full resolution.

"It will of course always leave a question in the mind of everyone because as several of the [prospective] jurors have stated, only two people know what happened," he said.

Legal experts said court rulings hurt the prosecution's case, including a decision allowing her sex life in the days surrounding her encounter with Bryant to be admitted as evidence. This was expected to bolster the defense contention that she slept with someone after leaving Bryant and before she went to a hospital exam -- a potentially key blow to her credibility.

"You can't make a case when there is no case," said attorney Lisa Wayne, who has defended clients in numerous sexual assault cases. "The prosecution has to take responsibility."

The pending civil case would also allow defense attorneys to argue the woman had financial motive to accuse Bryant of assault. Bryant's defense team has long argued she falsely accused him to gain the attention of a former boyfriend, and that she was given nearly $20,000 from a victims' compensation fund.

Bryant, 26, tearfully admitted more than a year ago that he had consensual sex with the then-19-year-old employee of a Vail-area resort where he stayed last summer. If convicted, the Los Angeles Lakers star would have faced four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation, and a fine up to $750,000.

Defense attorneys had asked the judge to dismiss the assault charge hours earlier, saying prosecutors had refused to turn over details that could suggest he is innocent. Court rules require prosecutors and defense attorneys to exchange evidence and witness opinions before trial, a process called discovery.

In a motion, defense attorneys said a forensics expert whom prosecutors had planned to call as a witness had information that "undermined the accuser's allegations and the prosecution's case."

"A person's life and liberty are at stake," the attorneys wrote. "The game of hide-the-ball, find-it-if-you-can discovery is intolerable."

The judge set a deadline for prosecutors to respond, but the move was moot a short time later.

Like the criminal case, the civil suit accuses Bryant of attacking the woman in his room at the Cordillera resort, causing her emotional and physical problems that linger to this day.

Her attorneys accuse Bryant of flirting with the woman, a front desk employee, during a tour of the resort. After the two ended up in his room, they began to kiss.

The woman's attorneys said at some point during the kissing "Bryant's voice became deeper and his acts became rougher" as he began to grope the woman. She asked him to stop, but Bryant allegedly blocked her exit, grabbed her and forced her over a chair to rape her. Bryant's hands were around the woman's neck, the attorneys said -- "a perceived threat of potential strangulation if she resisted his advances."

An attorney for the woman, L. Lin Wood, said the civil case was still on.

"There has been no settlement of the civil lawsuit and there have been no discussions concerning a settlement," he said.

Larry Pozner, a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he did not think Bryant's statement suggested an interest in settling the civil lawsuit.

"I would have guessed today would have been a global settlement [covering both cases]," he said. "If it isn't, it's because the defense has told them, `We aren't paying you very much, and if you want to continue, bring it on."'

In Eagle, however, the scrutiny will soon fade. Mayor Jon Stavney said many residents had grown weary of the attention.

"We were braced for the long haul, but I am sure the people will see this as a relief," he said. He said he knew several prospective jurors who were dismissed during the questioning, and said people had told them "lucky you."

"I think people are pretty clear it was going to be an ordeal," he said.

* * *

The current reality: Everyone's a loser in this one.

Now, instead of truth and closure, there only will be endless speculation, questions and loss. For Bryant, certainly, but also for the accuser, their teams of lawyers and, of course, Colorado and its milked taxpayers.

In the end, everyone is stripped of something valuable: dignity, integrity, reputation, finances — all slam-dunked because Bryant's accuser decided that she no longer was willing to testify against him in the criminal case, a decision that seems curious in its timing.

This woman was willing to send a man to prison. Willing to ruin his life, marriage and career. Fine if true; beyond despicable if it is not. And, worse, she makes it more difficult for future rape victims, especially acquaintance rape.

Mostly, such cases come down to credibility, and apparently the accuser was running low. Yet if she had planned to carry on with her civil case against Bryant, she would've needed to testify against the player.

For the love ... of money, of course.

Here's my guess: There will be no civil trial. Bryant will write a Shaq-sized check. . . .

So Debra, how do you feel about the case? As a woman and as a legal pofesional.

Didn't this case affect the observance of the rape-shield law? How does it pertain to victims rights?

District Judge Terry Ruckriegle threw out the case without prejudice, meaning that the charges cannot be refiled at a later date.