Michele and Craig are both concerned about the privacy of the accuser in the Kobe Bryant case and find it outrageous that there are those who want to “out” her.
Michele directs her wrath at those who are searching for information via the web, while Craig is mad at the mainstream media and various talk radio people, noting:
The argument that outing the victim is “fair” fails on at least three counts.
First, she did not create the media circus, the media did. She is not responsible for the massive coverage that her charges created.
Second, the state of Colorado looked at the accusation and decided to file charges. If Kobe Bryant is in trouble, it is not the simply the result of one woman’s statement. The police and DA vetted that statement and found it credible and probably buttressed by forensic evidence.
Third, Bryant’s wealth and celebrity provide him a degree of insulation and protection that is not available to this girl and her family. No one who wants to call Kobe is a rapist bastard is going to get within a hundred yards of the guy before the legal proceedings start. He will never see the email. His bodyguards will handle the anything that happen on the street. Mostly, though, he can live inside his mansion and hear nothing.
The alleged victim, however, has none of these advantages. The legal and moral protections victims are usually given have been stripped away by fat, sanctimonious pigs like Leykis. It may be inevitable but it is neither fair nor right.
While I agree both in general and in this particular case that rape victims should be protected from public scrutiny by the media, I’m aways amazed that so few seem to have any sympathy for the accused.
People are acquitted of rape charges all the time, yet there lives are forever ruined by the mere taint of the allegation. Now, granted, Bryant has admitted to adultery, which may or may not be a major violation of his wife’s trust (I know nothing of their relationship). But that’s a far cry from rape. So, it’s not unreasonable for Bryant’s defenders to want to know more about the character of his accuser.
Michele grants much of this point, in fact, but thinks that there are likely some lunatic Lakers fans who would harm or intimidate the accuser simply to preserve their hero’s playing career. This may well be true and, obviously, the accuser should be protected from this. But this all the more reason to keep Bryan’ts name out of the paper, too. There is no reason that the prosecutor needs to have press conferences in these cases.
