Barbie
07-25-2003, 07:25 PM
Will Kobe Bryant have a fair trial? (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2003/07/24/144655-ap.html)
Radio host defends naming Kobe Bryant's accuser
By BRUCE HARING
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Syndicated talk radio host Tom Leykis says he revealed the name of the woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault because he doesn't believe "you can have a fair trial where you know the name of one person and not the other."
Leykis, whose Los Angeles-based show deals with sexual topics, named the 19-year-old Colorado woman while on the air Tuesday. Her name and other personal information has been posted on various Internet sites but not in the mainstream media.
Most news organizations do not reveal the names of alleged sex crime victims. In Canada, the names of alleged sexual assault victims are not released.
Leykis said he found the woman's name by following clues in a newspaper story that did not name her.
"It included the names of friends, where they worked, how old they were," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They gave us all the information we needed. We started going down the list of names."
This is not the first time Leykis has revealed the name of an alleged victim of a sex crime. He identified the accusers in cases involving sportscaster Marv Albert and Seattle schoolteacher Mary Kaye LeTourneau.
Leykis said he would continue to identify any adult involved "in any case that people are interested in."
At least one trauma counsellor took issue with his action.
"This is a violation of privacy, and in that way, it is very much, psychologically, like a rape," said Patricia Saunders, director of the Graham Windham Manhattan Mental Health Center in New York.
Radio host defends naming Kobe Bryant's accuser
By BRUCE HARING
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Syndicated talk radio host Tom Leykis says he revealed the name of the woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault because he doesn't believe "you can have a fair trial where you know the name of one person and not the other."
Leykis, whose Los Angeles-based show deals with sexual topics, named the 19-year-old Colorado woman while on the air Tuesday. Her name and other personal information has been posted on various Internet sites but not in the mainstream media.
Most news organizations do not reveal the names of alleged sex crime victims. In Canada, the names of alleged sexual assault victims are not released.
Leykis said he found the woman's name by following clues in a newspaper story that did not name her.
"It included the names of friends, where they worked, how old they were," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They gave us all the information we needed. We started going down the list of names."
This is not the first time Leykis has revealed the name of an alleged victim of a sex crime. He identified the accusers in cases involving sportscaster Marv Albert and Seattle schoolteacher Mary Kaye LeTourneau.
Leykis said he would continue to identify any adult involved "in any case that people are interested in."
At least one trauma counsellor took issue with his action.
"This is a violation of privacy, and in that way, it is very much, psychologically, like a rape," said Patricia Saunders, director of the Graham Windham Manhattan Mental Health Center in New York.