[Stardust]

:Thumbs: In the best case, Kobe was a cheater who ended up having to bribe his wife with a huge diamond to stand in public, by his side, humiliated, while he denied the rape allegation. As for considering Kobe "innocent until proven guilty," that is a legal standard that applies to criminal courts and not to the court of public opinion.

I have no idea whether he was guilty of rape but Kobe obviously feared that some very damaging information would be made public if the case went to trial. Paying hush money to his alleged victim does prove that because, like you said, rape is a very serious accusation and an innocent man with nothing to hide would be eager to clear his good name in court.

Hoot, this sums up the point I was trying to make. To deny that there is more to the story than any of us will ever know is fair to leave open for debates such as this.

I have felt so confident that Barry Bonds is a user of steroids that I would bet my house on it. BUT - the courts did their due diligence, and the courts (prosecutor) deemed that the proof was not there. They gave Bonds every chance in the world to settle and plead something less than what he was being charged for, but Bonds felt so confident in his case that he did not back down. I would think someone charged of such a heinous crime would want no doubts left in the court of public appeals. What will we learn in Vanessa Bryant's wife's tell all Biography after "hush" period that will be imposed in her divorce settlement will likely give us the details