If he was convicted, that would be one thing. It never went to trial, and the prosecution was getting dunked on constantly for the entire duration of the pre-trial hearings. Not saying he’s 100% innocent, but in a case this ambiguous, I don’t feel morally conflicted about mourning his death.
It never went to trial because the accuser refused to testify after the court, on several separate occasions, leaked various documents with her personal information, which led her to receiving death threats.
I don't find much ambiguous about the following:
-Bryant's DNA.
-Bruising on the accuser's neck/jawline.
-Potentially the testimony of the accuser's friend who drove her home immediately after. She told the friend at the hotel about the incident.
-Accuser's blood on Bryant's T-Shirt.
-Several large lacerations inconsistent with consensual sex that occurred within "24 hours" (she was examined the day after). Bryant's defense here was that she had sex afterwards because another man's DNA was found on her underwear. Her version of events is that after the alleged rape she changed her underwear and put on old pair, which was worn when she previously had sex. This version of events makes sense as the friend drove her home immediately after.
The accuser had mental health issues, which Bryant's team was going to go after. If you have mental issues, clearly you are a liar, unlike Bryant:
Bryant’s version of the events differed from the accuser’s. He was questioned by police at around 11:30 p.m. the day after the alleged sexual assault at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera.
“Um, she showed me around the pool, showing me around, um, we went to my room, she showed me the back view where the bears come up to the window, and that’s about fucking it, we shot the shit and that was it,” Bryant told police. He then denied three times that anything had happened with the woman to police, and when informed that the accuser had made an allegation of sexual assault against him, told the officers, “Is there any way I can settle this whatever it is, I mean…?” asked Bryant. “If my wife, if my wife found out that anybody made any type of allegations against me she would be infuriated.”
When police informed him that the accuser had submitted to a physical exam and they’d taken semen and blood evidence from her person, Bryant admitted that the two had sex. “Uh, this is what I need to know because uh, I did have sexual intercourse with her,” said Bryant, adding, “It was totally consensual.”
When the officers asked Bryant whether she said no or resisted, Bryant replied, “Okay. I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I’m thinking. (Pause.) I’m trying to think of the conversation we had.”
