A New Law Proposal

I'm sure by now everyone has heard the news that criminal charges against Kobe Bryant were dropped last week. From a criminal standpoint, Kobe Bryant is off the hook. However, the victim is still taking him to civil court to sue for damages. This is just my opinion, but I'm not sure Kobe Bryant is the one she should be suing.

I've had mixed feelings about this case ever since it became publicized in the media. On one hand, Bryant was caught in a lie when he originally denied having any relations with the victim; that did not help his credibility any. On the other hand, the victim used poor judgment in choosing already-worn clothing from a previous encounter before going to the hospital to be examined for evidence. Intentional or not, it was just plain stupid.

I see both Bryant his accuser as victims of the system and/or the media. An accuser of a sexual crime, by law, is to have his/her identity shielded from the public for "protection." However the accused's identity and pertaining sexual criminal charges are allowed to be broadcast to the public in any manner possible. I don't think that's fair. History will show that when it comes to sexual crimes, the person accused is treated and regarded unofficially as guilty until he/she is acquitted of the charges. That is a direct violation of the rights of the accused -- innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

At the same time, whenever an accuser's identity and other information is "leaked" by someone, the accuser's rights are violated as well. In the case of Kobe Bryant, his status as a famous athletic celebrity brought out die-hard fans angry that the celebrity they worshipped was being accused of a crime. Many of them were angry enough to seek out and punish/scare/threaten Bryant's accuser. Those kinds of zealots are the reason the accuser's identity was shielded in the first place. The other leaks by employees of the courthouse only added fuel to the fire. In my honest opinion, I do not believe strong enough action was taken by the judge to prevent these leaks. I feel stronger gag orders should have been declared. The ball was dropped -- not once, but twice -- by this same establishment. Completely, totally inexcusable.

After seeing all this happen in this court case and other court cases in the past, I have a proposition as to how to handle future sexual crimes investigations/trials. I propose that a law be enacted in which the identies of both the accused and accuser are shielded until the first day of the trial. This will bar the media from broadcasting the ongoing investigation if it would identify the parties involved. Make it a felony to reveal the identities of either the accuser or the accused (one to five years would be a good start). This would apply to EVERYONE and EVERY MEDIA -- print, broadcast, and Internet. Once the trial begins, then let the media report on the evidence introduced, who was involved, etc.

This is how I look at the situation: if you're going to shield the identity of the victim, shield the identity of the accused as well. It's only fair, especially if the possibility exists that the defendent may be falsely accused. If he or she is found guilty of the crime, then the public has a right to know. Otherwise, BECAUSE of what happens to the accused, let's stop shielding the identity of the accuser of a sexual crime.

Of course, Kobe Bryant could have easily avoided all this if he had simply remained faithful to his wife.