Experts - Bryant Settlement Makes Sense

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March 2, 2005

Experts: Bryant Settlement Makes Sense
From Associated Press


DENVER - Experts believe a settlement between Kobe Bryant and the woman who
has accused him of rape makes the most sense for both sides because it
allows them to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial that would bring out
intimate details of their lives.

ABC News Radio reported Tuesday that the NBA star and his 20-year-old
accuser have reached an agreement in principle, with a settlement possible
as early as this week.

Attorneys for Bryant did not return calls, and the woman's attorneys
declined to comment on the report.

Earlier, the woman's attorneys had scheduled a seven-hour questioning
session with Bryant on Friday, but it was scratched, prompting speculation a
settlement was close.

Denver attorney Bill Keating said a settlement always seemed the only
logical end for the high-profile lawsuit.

Bryant and many observers "recognize this is a case likely to be very
time-consuming, very expensive and a case that delves into intensely
personal issues on both sides," Keating said.

"It's really the perfect case to be settled because there are lots of areas
of compensation other than money that come along with getting the case
settled: not having to be involved in this public issue any more," he said.

A settlement would offer Bryant "an end to litigation, an end to courtrooms,
an end to meetings with lawyers," Denver attorney Larry Pozner said. "And
what you give back is money, and what Kobe Bryant has a lot of is money."

The woman filed her lawsuit in Denver federal court in August, three weeks
before the criminal case against the Los Angeles Lakers star collapsed when
she decided she could not participate in the trial.

Allegations in the lawsuit echoed those of the criminal case: The woman said
Bryant flirted with her during a tour of the Vail-area resort where she
worked in June 2003. After the two ended up in his room, they began to kiss
and Bryant became more aggressive, holding her by the throat while he raped
her from behind.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for mental injuries, humiliation and
public scorn. Bryant, a married father of one, issued an apology to the
woman but maintained the sex was consensual.

Bryant, 27, has to bring an end to the civil case if he hopes to regain a
semblance of the rising-star image that brought him lucrative product
endorsements before he was charged with sexual assault, said David Carter, a
sports marketing consultant with the Los Angeles-based Sports Business
Group.

"There's going to be some real short-term pain attached, but absent this,
he'll never be able to move on to any kind of marketing career," Carter
said. "Without this closure, without putting it behind him, he's left
twisting in the marketing wind."