Court Documents Released to the Public

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There were some court documents released to the public today involving the Kobe Bryant case.
My question is what purpose does something like this serve? Why do we need to see court documents? Especially when something like this could taint the jury.

 

yes, knowledge is always a good thing. The more we know about governement processes then the more we can feel safe as people of the governement and we can know that the true course of justice has / has not been carried out.

 

Sure, information is a good thing, until that information has been tainted by the media, that is.

I have little to no knowledge about this particular case, so I have no idea what's in those documents. Were they presented to the public 'as is', or 'as interpreted by some tabloid journalist'?

 

In this particular case, the only reason I see is voyeurism. Noone really needs to see these documents, and it sure is going to influence the jury, but the media need something to make a story, especially when nothing else important is really going on (the trial has not even started, iirc).
I do not like Kobe particularly, but the release of those documents is not going to help him. Seems like being a star has big downsides, like not having the right for a fair, objective trial.

 

I thought publishing such documents during the trial would generally be seen as contempt of court and the paper could be held to account?

In the UK a big trial collapsed a couple of years ago through carelees tabloid writings with a cost to the taxpayer of some £10m. The fine was rather large, the editor sacked.

 

I think they are going to make an example of Kobe.

From a legal standpoint...He's already in serious trouble. Having that news conference was terrible advice! He admitted to having sex with his accuser. The prosecution only needs to establish that it was not consentual. If they do - he is done.

They added a lesser included offense of False Imprisonment. If he's convicted of that, which is a misdemeanor, it opens the door to a mental suffering civil suit which = HUGE LOTTERY PAYOFF!!!

Based on what's been reported, I think Kobe is going down. Although I think he was set up, he's going to be ruined by this.

 

How unfortunate that some "star's" ego inflated his head to the point where he had to think with his little one. How unfortunate that there was some worthless tramp only too ready to take advantage of the situation. How unfortunate that the defendant's celebrity skews the established legal process.

Other than that, this case has absolutely no bearing on my life and I can't bring myself to care about it.

 

@ Sir Bel: I might be outdated on this, but I thought the false imprisonment charge had been dropped ?
And what do you expect the punishment to be ?

Not that I care much about his fate, I just would like to know how a certain team is going to fare in the future...

 

i must agree with Rallymama, on all accounts.

i'm so sick of these celebrity court battles, who cares.

 

Welcome back, Greenlion!

 

Kralizek: The punishment for False Imprisonment will be minor, at least criminally...Where it will hurt will be when she files a civil suit for false imprisonment and emotional distress, and the accompanying punitive damages that go with it!

 

The public has a right to know certain things, absolutely. But the accused and the victim both have a right to privacy as well. In this case, i say the rights of the few should be paramount now - at least until the court case is over. After that, sure, make things public so that the public can be assured that justice was truly served.

 

Only chiming in to say that from a legal standpoint I don't think the admission by Kobe of having sex with the girl was a mistake at all. In fact, I think it was rather wise.

First, I'm assuming he did have sex with her. Now, by admitting it he nullifies all physical evidence of sexual intercourse. If he had denied it then had it been used it would have put him in a truly bad situation - 'he lied about having sex so he probably did rape her.' Had he simply remained silent on this issue and the physical evidence come to light, then he would have run the risk of appearing to be stonewalling and not being forthcoming. By admitting to having sex he has turned this from a trial with physical evidence into a case of "he said, she said" which makes his conviction much more difficult for the prosecution. Unless the prosecution has evidence of violence all physical evidence is now useless - Kobe has nullified what is typically some of the state's most compelling evidence. This also allows Kobe's lawyers to more openly 'attack the victim' and paint her in an unflattering light as someone who frequently involved herself in this type of activity and was a willing participant. Had the existence of a sexual relationship been denied, this would not be possible. Had they remained silent, it would have been less effective.

Also, I think that remaining silent in the face of constant coverage and statements from the prosecution would have been a mistake. People interpret "no comment" as "I've got something to hide." People ignore what an attorney says in the media about a client. The only way for the denial to bear any weight was for it to come from Kobe's mouth.

I believe having the press conference and admitting to the sexual relationship were both extremely wise though Kobe's performance may have left much to be desired (didn't see it, don't know).

Also, the documents being 'released' are public record. The media or you or I could go down and request these same documents for any case that has been filed and it would be out of the norm for these documents to not be available to the public. Certainly documents may be classified as confidential and certainly some areas are protected but the presumption is that any member of the public can take a look at a court document - for a nominal fee of course.

I don't think the release of these documents will hurt Kobe in the slightest.