A close friend of the woman who claims Kobe Bryant raped her says the basketball star asked the woman for a tour of the mountain resort and invited her into his room shortly after he checked in.
Friend and former high school classmate Luke Bray and another friend said a casual conversation between Bryant and the woman on June 30 led Bryant to ask the 19-year-old hotel receptionist and concierge to show him around.
Bray said the woman was working the front desk at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards when Bryant, 24, a player for the Los Angeles Lakers, arrived about 10 p.m. The two had a friendly exchange as the woman processed Bryant's paperwork and handed him room keys, Bray said.
"She said she felt a certain amount of chemistry with him," Bray told The Denver Post.
A short time later, Bryant asked the woman - a 2002 Eagle Valley High School graduate and University of Northern Colorado student - to show him around the resort, said Bray, who has talked at length with the woman during her recent stays with him and his wife, Starlene, also a high school friend.
The woman, flattered by Bryant's offer, accepted. She was on duty but not busy because of the late hour. She was due to go off duty at 11 p.m.
"She said he was just really down to earth, and that he was acting like a great guy," Bray said. "He was easy to talk to."
The two of them strolled around the main lodge of the sprawling 56- room resort. At some point, Bryant invited her into his room, Bray said.
"She had thoughts of declining," Bray said. "But he had been nice. She felt safe about doing that."
The woman told Bray that she soon realized it was nearly time for a shift change and that she had to be back at the front desk to punch out.
"Once she told him she had to leave, his attitude started to change," Bray said. "From there the story gets crazy."
The next day, the woman went with her parents to the Eagle County Sheriff's Office to report she had been raped. That day, Bryant had arthroscopic surgery on his knee at a clinic in Vail. Bryant surrendered to authorities July 4, posted $25,000 bond, and on Friday was charged with felony sexual assault.
Lawyers for the five-time NBA All-Star have maintained their client's innocence, while Bryant himself has said he had consensual sex with the hotel employee. His attorneys have not returned phone calls this week.
Bray refused to give details of what he called "the attack" because of requests from the woman's family and her attorney. But Bray said the woman has obvious physical injuries that are still visible three weeks after the incident.
"I can't wait for this to get in front of a jury so they can see what happened," Bray said. "Their jaws will hit the floor, and they will convict him."
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert has refused to comment on the facts of the case but said there was "alleged sexual penetration or intrusion" and that Bryant caused "submission of the victim through actual physical force."
Accounts have varied widely about how the woman ended up in Bryant's room - one version put her in his room while helping bellmen bring in bags, while another version held that Bryant sent bodyguards to fetch her.
Bray said that whatever happened after the incident is unclear because the woman was "really emotional and upset" as she left Bryant's room. Some reports have said the woman was hysterical and visibly upset. Bray said the woman doesn't remember much. He said she made the 30-minute drive from the lodge to her home in Eagle by herself and was home by midnight.
The next morning she told her mother and a friend about what happened, Bray said.
"It was her mother that knew right away what happened," Bray said. It was her mother, Bray said, who told the woman, "You were raped."
That it took 12 hours for the woman to go to authorities could be a problem for prosecutors, one legal expert said Tuesday.
"You would always point to a delay in reporting to show weakness in the accuser's case," Denver lawyer Maureen O'Brien said. "It gives someone time to make things up or to embellish a story."
Bryant's lawyers also could argue that the woman inflicted bruises on herself during that 12-hour lag time.
"If the physical evidence is a bruise or scratches, then the defense could point to that delay," O'Brien said. "Those things could come from anywhere - bumping into a table, for instance. They could be self-inflicted. It all adds a reasonable doubt."
Cynthia Stone with the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault said it is not at all unusual for rape victims to wait before reporting a crime.
"It is very individualized how women respond to attacks," Stone said. "Women who accuse someone of rape have a lot to think about. Look at what this woman has been through."
Meanwhile Tuesday, more people jumped into a court case that will determine whether local authorities must release tapes of phone calls the woman made to police during the past year.
Authorities refused to release the tapes after the Vail Daily requested them. The newspaper also asked for all the police dispatches from the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera for the past 26 months.
All paperwork submitted by Tuesday afternoon was off-limits to the public. Local authorities have argued they will withhold the tapes in order to protect the victim's identity, while the newspaper argues that the tapes are public information.
Attorneys for the woman and the Eagle County District Attorney's Office filed first-time briefs. The Vail Daily and Eagle Police Department filed paperwork to supplement their original briefs.
Also, the woman who has been misidentified on the Internet as Bryant's accuser has hired an attorney, sources said. A number of websites show the woman's picture and mistakenly name her as Bryant's alleged victim.
That is such a ******** sob story. That ***** knew what she was doing. She is just nasty and filthy. What the hell she went to his room for? She could have said no. But she go take her stank, nasty, trashy ass up there and have sex with a married man. and she knew he was married, she is just filthy white trash.
Ok lets see here got a married professional basketball player, and a 19 year old single woman.
My thoughts are: did he rape her? probably not Should he go to jail? no But what he did was WRONG!
I would tend to say that 19 year old woman knew what she was doing, any 19 year old that has been to college for a year knows that you don't accept a mans offer to go to his room just to "talk". I really don't think that he forsed himself on her. I think she went up there got herself a piece of a "professional b-baller" then went home and told her friend. Then thought hey that slime is married he owes me, so I am going to yell RAPE. That should get here a dime or 2 don't you think?
Now him well I think that his squeeky clean image is shot to hell. Any married man average joe to your sports hero needs to learn that sex is sex is sex when your married if you have it without your spouse there, bad things will and should happen to you. So sorry Mr Bryant your screwed again hope it was good.
Of course the injuries would be obvious. It'd be obvious even if it were consentual. Here we have a 6'7" black man with a little 19 year old white girl who's probably never dated a black guy before. I mean she's not even broken in yet. He probably ripped her wide open... that's gonna leave a mark.
Whoa, she is white trash? Cause he was married? Lets not forget his commitment to HIS wife. This woman never made a commitment to his wife, Kobe did...and Kobe broke it. Why do some people blame the one the spouse cheated with?! I give them some fault, sure....but the majority of it comes back to the adulterer...and that would be Kobe. This woman did not marry Kobe's wife and promise her fidelity....he did. He screwed up.
As for injuries being obvious in *that* way....Hmmm, well, maybe so......I am not going to get into Kobe's size and being black and etc. But come on now, these are injuries people supposedly SEE....do we really think this woman walks around with her ya'ya exposed?????? Ok, maybe don't answer that. (o; LOL. No, really, I am assuming they mean more external injuries one could see while talking to her, fully clothed. At least I hope so! (Though personally, I do not believe there were injuries caused by him, I believe there was sex, but not by force, and believe if she does have injuries? I believe they are self induced ones....)
Originally posted by Jeem Of course the injuries would be obvious. It'd be obvious even if it were consentual. Here we have a 6'7" black man with a little 19 year old white girl who's probably never dated a black guy before. I mean she's not even broken in yet. He probably ripped her wide open... that's gonna leave a mark.
I have to say I agree. I'm blk and so is my husband. Not saying that is to justify ***** size, but I've been having sex for almost 10 yrs and it still hurts me some times. Somtimes it hurts to use the restroom afterwards. I'm not saying he didn't do it, but rips in the vaginal area is not justification. Especially if the went straignt to it. Maybe she wasn't wet. That would cause additional friction as well. There are just so many examples for the against the evidence that's present.
I have to say I agree. I'm blk and so is my husband. Not saying that is to justify ***** size, but I've been having sex for almost 10 yrs and it still hurts me some times. Somtimes it hurts to use the restroom afterwards. I'm not saying he didn't do it, but rips in the vaginal area is not justification. Especially if the went straignt to it. Maybe she wasn't wet. That would cause additional friction as well. There are just so many examples for the against the evidence that's present.
I'm black and have a extra-large *****.My girlfriend is really tight (to me).We started off using Vaseline but now she just wets it down with lots and lots of saliva. I'm surprised that Kobe didn't do this, especially with a white girl (they are known for great blow jobs!)
Oh, for God's sakes, just because he's black, that doesn't mean he has the largest wang ever known to a white woman. Besides, it does not matter how big or small it is. If she ain't wet, it's gonna hurt. And if she's all turned on and ready to go, then it could be the size of a football, and it won't hurt.
This is a case of white versus black. I don't think Kobe raped this girl. He cheated, so what. Who's business is it anyway, but his wifes. This trick new what she was doing. She proably got scared her parents found out that she had sex with a black man and freaked. We all have something to say about Kobe cheating, when in fact men (who are not celebrities) do it all the time GET REAL PEOPLE. this is a part of life, that a lot of people deal with. I am not saying it is right, but let VANESSA LAINE- BRYANT MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS!!!
Camry,
Is this really between black & white. It seems to be more of a
male vs female issue. My question is "If there is protest after
giving consent, at the start of intercourse is that rape? That is
an age old problem that has plague man for centuries.
Craig, it is black and white. If it had been a black woman who said Kobe raped her, It would not have gone this far. They would have said she should not have gone to his room.
Originally posted by apriltoshera That is such a ******** sob story. That ***** knew what she was doing. She is just nasty and filthy. What the hell she went to his room for? She could have said no. But she go take her stank, nasty, trashy ass up there and have sex with a married man. and she knew he was married, she is just filthy white trash .
Had a white person made a comment, just in reverse about a black person, we would be labeled a racist. No matter what the outcome of this entire trial ends up being... it's between those people, and they are the ONLY one's that truly know what happens!!
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
07-28-2003 09:48 PM
