Kobe Bryant Faces Two Separate Sexual Assault Charges
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Four days before his arraignment for the alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman in Colorado, Kobe Bryant showed up Saturday at the Teen Choice Awards, there he is, where he was named favorite male athlete. He is there with his wife in a hat. His appearance raised some eyebrows. DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There will be two TV images of Kobe Bryant Wednesday. The first, Kobe the superstar voted best athlete at Teen Choice Awards to air that night. The second, Kobe as criminal defendant entering a Colorado court. A judge is refusing to let Bryant skip his initial appearance, ordering him to show. Though there is one charge it lays out two theories on what prosecutors believe happened at the exclusive lodge where the woman worked. One theory says Bryant used physical force during the alleged sexual assault. The other that the victim was subdued another way. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This might be such things as threats, intimidation, body posturing, tone, innuendo, communication. FEYERICK: Former prosecutor David Luger (ph) says breaking the charge into two parts could make it easier for the district attorney to convince a jury Bryant’s guilty of something. He’s covering his bases because he’s alleged two forms of sexual assault occurring. And actually in a trial posture, if both are presented to the jury, he would only be required to have to prove one of them to be successful. FEYERICK: Bryant, has maintained his innocence saying the sex was consensual. And though his big sponsors were sticking with him, he’s just been dropped by Nutella, a chocolate product that pays him half a million dollars a year to use his picture on the label. Bryant has been staying at his New Port Beach, California, mansion. While the young woman at the center of the storm in Eagle, Colorado, has left town. A sources tells CNN she’ll be gone for two weeks before returning briefly to pack for college. More : edition.cnn.com |