Parties negotiate details, ABC News reports ESPN.com news services Kobe Bryant has agreed in principle to a settlement with the woman who accused him of sexual assault, sources told ABC News on Tuesday. The NBA star was scheduled to give a deposition Friday, but when that was postponed, speculation arose that a settlement was in the works. The parties were to meet and could have a signed agreement by the end of the week, ABC News reported. L. Lin Wood and John Clune, attorneys for the 20-year-old accuser, were going to question Bryant on Friday, but Wood said Monday that the session was called off after his team arrived in Orange County, Calif., for the meeting. The deposition -- where attorneys question a party to a lawsuit before trial, without a judge present -- would have been the first time Bryant had spoken under oath about what happened. Wood declined further comment. Clune and Bryant's lead attorney Pamela Mackey did not immediately return calls. "It sounds like somebody's talking numbers," said veteran plaintiff's attorney Mel Hewitt of Atlanta told The Associated Press on Monday. "We do that in a lot of cases. We'll push for the deposition knowing they don't want to talk to us and hopefully that makes somebody want to drag their checkbook out." He said the deposition might also have been postponed for a simpler reason, such as an illness. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch previously refused to bar the woman's lawyers from asking Bryant about his sexual history. He said he would handle any objections to the questions afterward. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for mental injuries, humiliation and public scorn the woman said she has suffered since her June 2003 encounter with Bryant at the Vail-area resort where she worked. The woman, now married and pregnant, sued Bryant in Denver federal court last summer, three weeks before the criminal case against him in Eagle County collapsed when she decided she could not take part in a trial. Bryant, a married father of one, issued an apology but insisted the sex was consensual. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Link
Wow, I didnt know that... I'm sure thats hard to go through all that and be pregnant at the same time, I wonder if it was an accident
Smart move on his part. Kobe was well aware that they were going to drag his entire sexual history out into the open. If that were to happen, he could kiss away any future endorsement money. This way, he pays a fortune now, but a few years down the road might once again be valuable to advertisers.
It's not about actors and atheletes -- it's about money. Rich people get away with things all the time, but you don't hear about most of them because most rich people aren't famous.
Well she dropped the criminal case and now she's dropping the civil case. Seems to me they both realized that they both pay dearly if things go to court. Now Kobe has an opportunity to rehab his reputation somewhat (if that is even possible) and she gets her money. It's about all the justice possible with this case anyway...Kobe would not realistically do any time yet he would have to give up big bucks to make it go away. I'm happy about the settlement in hopes of not hearing anything about either of them again. (Now if Michael Jackson could simply go away....)
Let's be honest, everybody knew this was how it was going to play out. The girl trapped kobe and then took his money. Well done.
What makes it more fun, is that she met the guy while in drug rehab (he was getting rehab as well), and she was pregnant not long after. This, of course, all took place after the CO incident with Kobe. Both sides knew Faber didn't stand a ghost of a chance at winning either the criminal or civil cases. Her lawyers just played chicken long enough, banking that Kobe would settle before seeing all his other dirty laundry go public (seeing how anything in the courtroom would be leaked in no time flat). "So Mr Bryant, we've come to understand that you regularly cheat on your wife with these other women. So we can accurately compare your activity with them to what you did with Mrs Faber, could you tell us what positions you used with them? Any fetishes you indulged? Please be thorough, and remember that you are under oath." Evan
