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http://www.thedenverchannel.com/kobebryanttrial/3704247/detail.html
By Craig Silverman, 7NEWS Legal Analyst
I knew the Kobe Bryant criminal trial was headed for prosecutorial doom when
I sat through that preliminary hearing. Exactly six months ago, I was able
to write a column anticipating the accuser's withdrawal from this
prosecution.
In the last several weeks, the accuser's well-orchestrated exit strategy was
painfully apparent. Once the civil suit was filed, the accuser's desire for
money was written down in black and white. Everybody seemed to understand
what was going on except for Mark Hurlbert.
Never could I have imagined that any prosecutor would allow his case and his
office to be used as leverage for an accuser to extract money from a rich
criminal defendant. The following is what DA Mark Hurlbert needed to do
months ago, but certainly immediately after her civil case was filed. The DA
needed to have a conversation with the accuser and her attorneys that went
something like this:
DA: I understand you may have some hesitancy about proceeding and I
understand that. Please take a few more days and decide whether you are
going to participate in this criminal case. Talk to your parents and anyone
else you need to. But I need to know by the end of the week.
Here is why I need to know. We have a spent a lot of taxpayer money and
expended a lot of effort on this one case. We are short-staffed and our
budgets are at a breaking point. Hundreds of jurors are soon going to have
to disrupt their lives to show up on Aug. 27, 2004 for jury duty.
I will support any decision you make. However, you need to know this.
I will not tolerate my office being used as leverage for you to get a
settlement in your civil claim. That would be unethical for me and I will
not do it. If you decide not to testify and tell me at the last minute, I
will not support that decision. It will be a broken promise to me. It will
be a waste of taxpayer's money. It will be a violation of common courtesy to
my constituents.
This conversation obviously never occurred. How else can you explain the
ridiculous remarks of Hurlbert after he dismissed the criminal case with
prejudice. Here are some of the lowlights:
"The prosecution team wants to try this case, I want to try this case and
have the evidence heard by 12 citizens of this community." (Hurlbert dropped
his own participation in the trial over a month ago.)
"With the victim on board, we truly felt that we had a great case and that
justice would prevail. Our commitment to this case remains strong." (Put up
or shut up. DO NOT CALL A MAN A RAPIST UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE IT IN COURT!
Aren't you trying to influence public opinion while the civil case is
pending?)
"This decision is NOT based upon a lack of belief of the victim. She is an
extremely credible and extremely brave young woman and our belief in her has
not wavered over the past year." (She told you she was willing to go forward
and then backed out -- nice credibility.)
"Ultimately, we must all respect that this is this victim's personal
decision and candidly this team and I understand why she may have misgivings
about her rights being respected in this process. Ultimately, we respect her
decision 100 percent." (Hell, Hurlbert made the same decision and backed out
of the case many weeks before she did.)
I have never seen more shameful statements by a prosecutor. Bruce Brown, the
highly intelligent, experienced and ethical Democratic candidate for the 5th
Judicial District DA job should be elected on Nov. 2 if there is any justice
in this world.
Any competent attorney would be preferable to Hurlbert. This latest display
of Hurlbert's horrible judgment calls all his decision making into question.
Kobe Bryant's accuser consented for a long time to the criminal case going
forward until the very last moment when she reversed course and suddenly
withdrew her consent. Is it fair to now wonder if the same sort of thing
happened on June 30, 2003 in Room 35 at Cordillera? Perhaps Kobe Bryant did
not react as fast and friendly to her late declaration of "no" as did Mark
Hurlbert.
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