It now appears the Kobe Bryant case is heading to trial. The start of the trial is on Friday, when jury selection is scheduled to begin.
Now I have said that this is going to be a tough case to prosecute, I even predicted on this show that the alleged victim would back out and as her attorney said on this program, pursue justice in a civil trial. But sources are telling NBC News that the young woman has decided to move forward and prosecutors are planning to move forward later this week.
NBC has also learned that the D.A. had set a deadline of last Friday for the alleged victim to decide is she didn’t want to testify. But according to our sources, she chose not to back out.
I thought the prosecution would realize they have little chance of winning the criminal trial and a far better shot in the civil arena. The detective who first interviewed the alleged victim left questions as to when and whether the woman said ‘no.’
And then the defense will be able to ask about the woman’s sexual activity in the 72 hours before her rape exam. The defense will argue she had sex after Bryant, a claim she denies.
So maybe I gave the prosecutions too much credit to assume they would say, “it may not be in her best interest to force her to testify in a criminal trial that prosecutors will likely lose.”
