PrettyFakes

let’s get this right out of the way: i hate basketball, and i’m a feminist. so what do i think about kobe bryant? innocent until proven guilty, sucrose. but like any other amateur law dork, i want to know more about it first. let’s check it out:

kobe’s charged under Colorado Statute 18-3-402(1)(a) and (4)(a)—their sexual assault law.

(1)(a) says that “Any actor who knowingly inflicts sexual intrusion or sexual penetration on a victim commits sexual assault if . . . The actor causes submission of the victim by means of sufficient consequence reasonably calculated to cause submission against the victim’s will.”

(4)(a) is a classification which provides that “Sexual assault is a class 3 felony if it is attended . . . [by] The actor caus[ing] submission of the victim through the actual application of physical force or physical violence.”

in a conversation between gclark and kfb and me, we debated how a jury might deal with the whole “yes for this, no for that” prosecution. what comes to mind is the ol’ brown university saw about asking for every new “step” in the make-out process. “miss, may i touch your breast now? thank-you. now, may i touch your buttocks?”

colorado law is not so touchy. In fact, they categorically reject the notion that “the prosecution [must] show [the accused’s] awareness of the victim’s nonconsent in order to prove first degree sexual assault.” Dunton v. People, 898 P.2d 571, 573 (Colo. 1995). Look closely at what they’re saying in the statute—if there is “submission . . . through . . . force.” This effectively removes the need for showing nonconsent, as

The statute equates the victim’s nonconsent with proof that the defendant has caused the victim’s submission by force, by threat either of great harm or of retaliation, or by deception (i.e., surreptitiously drugging the victim). These acts of the defendant cause the victim to be unable to consent.

Dunton, 898 P.2d at 573 (emphasis added). that, my friends, is a tough hurdle to jump. essentially it says that you suck so bad they don’t have to show anything.

the merits of the case i know much less about. but for all the people that say “she’s faking it,” i want to know how many people you know that were raped or abused. for most of us, sadly, it’s at least a handful. then, think of how many times someone was prosecuted for it. what, you say? zero? that’s what i thought. so before you start hollerin’ about the victim, think about what you know is true.

plus, if she really wanted all the attention, or money, or whatever, why not blackmail kobe, like michael jordan’s mistress did? she got $250,000. what does kobe’s accuser get?

nothing. face it, kids: there’s no “prizes” somebody gets out of being raped, or abused. does that mean anybody accused of rape is automatically guilty? of course not. but it does mean that kobe’s got a tough few months ahead of him.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2003 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Gorjus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.