Kobe Bryant dead from Helicopter crash

[Jackie]

Am I the only one on the planet who didn’t forget that this guy had a credible sexual assault allegation against him? I‘m not saying the guy deserved to die, and I can’t imagine what his wife is going through right now, but the way the media is treating him like some kind of god is, frankly, sickening.

Credible allegations =/= guilty. I'm not into not believing victims, but I also don't lambaste the accused unless I see evidence that I consider irrefutable. Therefore, I don't think of Kobe as a rapist. He definitely cheated on his wife and shit, but he was one of the greatest basketball players in the world and died with his young daughter sitting next to him under tragic circumstances. It merits talking about.

Be it OJ, or Casey Anthony, one does not have to like the nature of any charge, nor do we have to like the outcome of any trial, but we do have a duty to the constitution in respecting due process and presumption of innocence.

I don't think of Kobe rapist either. Even he admitted that he misunderstood the situation. That is not the same as saying, "I forced her to do it."

I do take this personally having falsely been accused of things I did not do. 

#1....... A long time ago, in a private school, our school had a field day on the playground which was atop a hill, overlooking the major road. There was a wall and metal banister preventing anyone on the playground from falling onto the sidewalk next to the road 15 or 20 feet down.  So I was bored, went to the railing and simply was watching the traffic go by. One car passed, the passenger side front tire kicked up a rock which dinged the passenger door. The asshole driving the car assumed I had thrown a rock at his car. 

So he pulls into the parking lot, and proceeds to find the principle and claim someone threw the rock at his car. The principle in turn, stopped our play day, took us all into the cafeteria and told us the play day would only resume if someone confessed.  Stupid me went up to him, and told him the truth. He automatically assumed I was lying. The entire staff and all the students hated me because everyone stayed till the busses came to pick us up to take us home, because I would not confess.

#2 Back in college I did an internship at a cable news TV station. I was impressed with the editing technology and made the stupid remark to a male secretary that "I'd love to drive a U-Haul up and load it up. It was my bad joke of saying I love the technology.  Late in my internship, a camera(AND BELIEVE ME, news cameras cost more than many cars), went missing. It was frightening to have police even question me. 

While the first example may seem mundane, it is no fun to have hundreds of people assume the worst. In the second example, it is no fun for law to look at you knowing you didn't do anything wrong.