Surprise! Money finally talks in the Kobe case

I saw the attorneys for Kobe Bryant’s accuser — John Clune and Lin Wood — on television the other day. They were madder than two hornets nests. They were breathing fire. If I can sum up their mood, it was one of outrage. Apparently, information was leaked that will make it difficult for their client to get a fair shake in a criminal trial. Foul-ups committed by the court in Eagle, Colo., constitute a mockery of a travesty of a sham.

Hell hath no fury greater than two lawyers representing a woman scorned. So on Tuesday, Clune and Wood took the only step remaining for them in their pursuit of justice:

They filed a civil suit against Bryant.

I don’t know about you, but this threw me for a loop. I really never believed monetary damages would be involved in a case like this. I believe in our justice system. I trust in the little lady with the blindfold holding the scales. I figured everyone involved would let due process take its course.

Wow, did I miscalculate.

Upon closer examination, it seems to me now that what I first determined to be anger from Clune and Wood instead was glee. It was an honest mistake. In the legal realm, the two are often confused.

Lessons in litigation
The fact that court clerks posted information on a Web site with details of the case that could be damaging to Bryant’s accuser, and that those same clerks e-mailed seven news organizations with documents containing testimony painting the alleged victim in an unfavorable light, was not bad but good for her. It may have tainted the jury pool somewhat for a criminal trial, but it strengthened her status as an aggrieved party for a civil case.

The legal profession is a fascinating and wondrous world, and I’m learning more and more about it each day.

Clune and Wood couldn’t be happier. Any information that creeps into the public domain through the perceived incompetence of Judge Terry Ruckriegle’s minions in Eagle only helps her mouthpieces justify a civil suit.

This all began about a week ago, when Clune and Wood mounted an offensive in the media. They went on one of the morning talk shows and declared that their client was so “devastated” by the news leaks that she might not be able to participate in the criminal case. That, of course, would gut the criminal case. No testimony from the alleged victim means no chance for a conviction.

In Eagle, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said that Tuesday’s filing of the civil case does not affect the criminal trial. “We’re still moving forward,” she said.

The vultures swoop in
But Clune and Wood are not only moving forward, as well, they’ve taken a commanding lead. They did so with great cunning, lying in wait until they saw their opportunity. If the prosecution had a strong case, they would have had to wait until that trial’s conclusion before charting a path toward riches for themselves and their client. Now, with the prosecution absorbing blow after blow, they swooped in, even though the criminal case is technically still alive.

That doesn’t just make them vultures, but meddling vultures.

And you don’t have to be a legal eagle to predict what will happen next.

The criminal case will probably not go forward. Why should it? Clune and Wood already reminded the public that the court has damaged the prosecution’s case, and by doing so, they accelerated their own civil case.

I don’t know whether I can say that this is what the accuser wanted all along, because I don’t know if she was raped or not. She might be telling the truth, and she might genuinely want to see Bryant behind bars.

But she has hired lawyers to extract money from a wealthy NBA superstar, so it’s safe to say she definitely wants cash. That is now a matter of record.

In the civil suit, the attorneys asked for damages for pain, suffering and “public scorn, hatred, and ridicule.” They asked for a jury trial and compensatory damages of at least $75,000, with punitive damages to be determined later.

If she goes through with the criminal case, it can only hurt her pursuit of money. Imagine the circus. It will be another "Trial of the Century," a la the O.J. Simpson debacle. Bryant’s attorneys, Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon, will carve her up in cross-examination, even if she’s telling the truth. If she did have sex with someone after she was allegedly raped by Bryant — as Mackey and Haddon contend — that will destroy her credibility.

Yes, a civil case requires a lower standard of proof — a preponderance of the evidence rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt — yet even that will be difficult to achieve by the civil attorneys if the accuser is clobbered publicly in a criminal trial.

So, the civil trial soon will be the only trial with which Kobe Bryant must deal.

Time to write the check
In all likelihood, he won’t even have to deal with that. He will write a big check and make all this go away.

Because if a civil trial proceeds, it means more months of questions from reporters, more interruptions in his life and his basketball season. It means a delay in the chore of rehabilitating his image so he can someday recoup his lost endorsements. It means that Clune and Wood, their associates and their investigators, will dig deep into Bryant’s personal life. Recently an Orlando woman said she was groped by Bryant at a party. How many other women might be induced to come forward, especially if they perceive some financial gain for themselves? Bryant could have brushed up against somebody on a crowded dance floor and she’ll be on the witness stand as one of his “victims.”

No, as distasteful as it may be to many, Bryant’s wisest course of action is to end it with a settlement. The two sides will make the requisite statements afterward about how the parties involved “can now get on with their lives” and the amount of cash given to the accuser and her lawyers will be kept “private,” even though it will leak out, probably through an errant e-mail by the folks in Eagle.

If you couldn’t see all this coming, you weren’t paying attention.

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