Kobe Bryant sexual assault case
[3] Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, a hotel in Edwards, Colorado, on June 30 in advance of having surgery near there on July 2 under Dr. Richard Steadman.
On July 18, the Eagle County District Attorney's office filed a formal charge against Bryant for sexual assault.
[11] It was revealed that she wore underpants containing another man's semen and pubic hair to her rape exam the day after the alleged incident.
[12] Detective Doug Winters stated that the yellow underwear she wore to her rape exam contained sperm from another man, along with Caucasian pubic hair.
Bryant's defense stated that the exam results showed "compelling evidence of innocence" because the accuser must have had another sexual encounter immediately after the incident.
The examination found evidence of vaginal trauma, which Bryant's defense team claimed was consistent with having sex with multiple partners in two days.
[citation needed] The evidence recovered by police included the T-shirt that Bryant wore the night of the incident, which had three small stains of the accuser's blood on it.
[15] However, Bobby Pietrack, the accuser's high-school friend and a bellman at the resort, said she appeared to be very upset, and "told me that Kobe Bryant had forced sex with her".
A few weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin, the accuser wrote a letter to state investigator Gerry Sandberg clarifying some details of her first interview by Colorado police.
"[16] Bryant's defense lawyer Pamela Mackey asserted that the accuser was taking an anti-psychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia at the time of the incident.
Before the alleged incident, the accuser, an aspiring singer, tried out for the television show American Idol with the song "Forgive" by Rebecca Lynn Howard, but failed to advance.
[17] In addition to the woman's moral character and reputation being challenged by Bryant's defense lawyer, she received death threats and hate mail[18] and her identity was leaked multiple times.
[19][20] On September 1, 2004, Eagle County District Judge Terry Ruckriegle dismissed the charges against Bryant, after prosecutors spent more than $200,000 preparing for trial, because his accuser informed them that she was unwilling to testify.
[21] On the same day that the criminal case was dismissed, Bryant issued the following statement through his attorney: First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident.
That part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado.
[26] The sexual assault allegations had little impact on Bryant's professional basketball career as he went on to win several championships and earn accolades.
