A while ago I talked about Judge Neal Dickhead Stephenson and his crude mishandling of a sexual assault trial. I entitled the post Because of assholes like this guy… because I took the case as evidence that state and local criminal courts can’t always be trusted to try rape cases appropriately. Unfortunately, current events have provided independent corroboration for the claim: in this case, the trial of Kobe Bryant.

Let me begin by saying that I have not been closely following the proceedings in Colorado, and even if I had it’s unlikely that I’d be familiar with most of the relevant evidence at this point. So I don’t know whether or not Kobe Bryant is a rapist. But I do know that he is a huge asshole.

Here is what the legal strategy that he has apparently authorized, and encouraged, has done:

Although Colorado’s rape laws are designed to protect alleged victims from publicity and to keep the victim’s sex life from being publicized, the laws appear to have collapsed under the press of high-priced lawyers and inquisitive media outlets, especially tabloid newspapers, consumed by the case.

While major media outlets have avoided revealing her identity, the woman’s name, photo and biography have been splashed across supermarket tabloids and Internet sites, and talk-radio hosts have made sport of her florid sexual reputation.

Fans of the basketball player have besieged her with angry phone calls and visits, forcing her to live on the run, moving to four states in the past six months.

On Thursday, the alleged victim’s mother sent a letter to the judge urging him to bring the trial to a quick conclusion because her life is on hold and her safety is in jeopardy. The woman’s lawyer said that she has been besieged with hundreds of threats of physical violence.

She can’t live at home, she can’t live with relatives, she can’t go to school or talk to her friends, the mother wrote. Even the defendant [Mr. Bryant] is able to continue living in his home and continue with his employment.

But there was little indication yesterday that the judge intended to intervene. Mr. Bryant’s lawyers have asked the judge to waive the rape-shield law that prevents personal history from being used as testimony in sex-assault trials, on the grounds that rape is not dependent on the promiscuity or virtue of the victim. In order to determine whether her history and reputation are relevant, the judge has put the woman through a week of closed-door hearings in which she has been interrogated about her sexual history.

Lawyers say that the sexual-history questioning is likely to continue through May. A trial date has not yet been set.

—Media glare at Bryant trial falls on rape complaint from The Globe and Mail

(That’s right. This is the pre-trial. This shit will be going on for months to come.)

Here is a simple guide for whether it is legitimate to use a woman’s sexual history in a rape trial. It’s not difficult; it just consists of a single question. Does this woman’s sexual history include a history of false rape charges? No? Then shut the fuck up. It has nothing to do with the trial. Citing it can have no possible purpose other than to humiliate the alleged victim and prejudice the judge and jury. In a high-profile case such as Bryant’s, they have the additional effect of unleashing hordes of cretinous goons to harass, defame, and threaten to hurt or murder the alleged victim. Whether or not the sexual assault charges turn out to be true, that’s an incredibly cynical, sleazy, unethical, and probably completely illegal way to conduct a defense. (Meanwhile, faced with this wholesale contempt for Colorado’s rape shield law, the judge seems to be stifling a yawn.)

The trial, at this point, would already be a farce if it weren’t so damn appalling; an immediate mistrial should be declared and the case should be reassigned to a different judge who is actually able to control the court-room.

Or perhaps not: his lawyers are unlikely to let up on their scorched-earth assault, and as it turns out, even if Bryant is convicted, he may not even go to prison:

If he is found guilty, Mr. Bryant, 25, could face four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.

Based on what he’s done in the court-room so far, and the possibility that he could be found guilty without any serious consequences resulting,
I’m increasingly beginning to think that we should just give up on the whole damn thing. Just give up and release Kobe—right into the middle of a large and well-armed Take Back The Night march. It would save everyone a lot of trouble, and it would make some great reality TV.