Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Some of these exceptions could have applied to the Kobe Bryant prosecution. The medical exam evidence could have been allowed had the alleged victim not placed fault on Mr. Bryant. The burden would then have been on the prosecution to prove Mr. Bryant's fault. However, the prosecution submitted a conclusory statement with regards to the findings at the medical exam. Had they not done so, an exception to the hearsay evidence would have been made.
Another exception that may have been available to the prosecution was forfeiture by wrongdoing. In this case, the high profile of the trial was a consideration in the plaintiff not wanting to proceed with the trial. The accuser was going to be subject to humiliation with respect to her sexual history, before an international media spotlight. Indeed, the prosecution moved midway through the preliminary hearing to have the remainder of the hearing closed for this reason. The defense argued that the hearing should remain open. The argument could have been made that this situation constituted wrongdoing on the part of the defense. However, the defense had originally requested a closed hearing, which effectively eliminated the potential for obtaining an exception on the use of hearsay based on wrongdoing.
Without the above, the use of exceptions to hearsay would have been limited to those that are allowed when the declarant is available.
These are limited to excited utterances, present tense impression and declarations of present state of mind. None of these exceptions applies to the Kobe Bryant case. Therefore, there was little chance of an exception being granted to...
As a result, the prosecution was forced to drop the case when the alleged victim refused to take the stand.
The Kobe Bryant case was based largely on hearsay, which was admissible in the preliminary hearing but would have not been admissible during the main trial. The case highlights the rules surrounding the admissibility of hearsay evidence. There were a couple of potential avenues the prosecution could have taken to have the evidence admitted, but the odds of success were low.
Works Cited
No author. (2009). Hearsay Rule. Legal Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hearsay+rule
No author. (2003). Rape evidence against Bryant revealed. Reuters. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/16/1065917526371.html
No author. (2003). Kobe Bryant must stand trial, judge rules. CNN. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://quiz.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/20/bryant.hearing/index.html
No author. (2004). Rape case against Bryant dismissed. MSNBC. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/5861379/
People of the State of Colorado v. Kobe Bryant: Defendant's Response to Prosecution's Motion to Close Remainder of Preliminary Hearing. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/bryant/cobryant101503drsp.pdf
Trachtenberg, Ben L.W. (2009). The Exception Swallowing the Hearsay Rule: Coconspirators, Coventurers, and the Confrontation Clause. Social Science Research Network. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1358530
Works Cited
No author. (2009). Hearsay Rule. Legal Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hearsay+rule
No author. (2003). Rape evidence against Bryant revealed. Reuters. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/16/1065917526371.html
No author. (2003). Kobe Bryant must stand trial, judge rules. CNN. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://quiz.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/20/bryant.hearing/index.html
No author. (2004). Rape case against Bryant dismissed. MSNBC. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/5861379/
People of the State of Colorado v. Kobe Bryant: Defendant's Response to Prosecution's Motion to Close Remainder of Preliminary Hearing. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/bryant/cobryant101503drsp.pdf
Trachtenberg, Ben L.W. (2009). The Exception Swallowing the Hearsay Rule: Coconspirators, Coventurers, and the Confrontation Clause. Social Science Research Network. Retrieved March 29, 2009 at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1358530
As Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein note, enforcement of prohibition in some parts of the U.S. was relatively strict (222). Changing the Perception: Steps Which May Have Been Taken Given the negative perception the general public had of law enforcement officers during the prohibition period, there was an existing need to undertake deliberate measures aimed at changing such a perception. In my opinion, such measures had a direct impact on winning public
By 1925, half a dozen states, including New York, passed laws banning local police from investigating violations. Prohibition had little support in the cities of the Northeast and Midwest. (Mintz) The issue most largely debated today regarding prohibition is that the social experiment did not improve conditions in the U.S. For anyone and in fact created massive violence and great deal more illegal activity that had been occurring before the
Lie the prohibition, religion also plays a role in this debate. Fundamentalist Christians for example believe that both gay marriage and abortion are wrong and should not be allowed in society. On the other hand, there are those who are raped, cannot afford another child, or would like to be married to make their love official, although they are both men or both women. The problem with using Constitutional amendment
Prohibition/Repeal and the Roaring Twenties Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties According to the films, how did prohibition come about, what was it trying to accomplish and why? The concept of alcoholism never stood at ease with many factions throughout the industrialized world. Even in Europe, the thought of alcohol related to drunken brawls and non-covert prostitution. The United States was no different, and by the 1840s to the roaring twenties, alcohol had become
Prohibition Was Bound to Fail As the culmination of the century-long temperance campaign in the United States by religious preachers, women's temperance advocates, abolitionists, and later industrial leaders, the Eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1919, outlawing the sale, production, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States. While at the early stage of Prohibition, the new policy seemed to work and was not opposed by many, Prohibition's popularity began
Prohibition Impact American Authors F. Scott Fitzgerald Ernest Hemingway Prohibition and the roaring 20s: The novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemmingway The consumption of alcohol defines the works of both F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The quintessential Fitzgerald heroine is the flapper -- the short-haired, carefree, hard-drinking heroine of works such as Tender is the Night and the Great Gatsby. The iconic 'Hemingway man' of The Sun Also Rises and