From today's BBC Website.

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Kobe Bryant rape case collapses


Bryant is one of the top-earning sportsmen in the US
A US judge has dismissed the case against basketball star Kobe Bryant, after prosecutors dropped sexual assault charges against him.
The surprise move comes less than a week after the start of jury selection in Mr Bryant's trial in Colorado.

Prosecutors said they could not proceed because the alleged victim refused to testify in court.

The 26-year-old star denies assaulting a teenager at a ski resort last year, saying sex between them was consensual.


Mr Bryant, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, is one of the highest-paid sportsmen in the United States.

"This motion is to dismiss based on the sole fact that the victim is unable to continue," prosecutor Mark Hurlbert told the judge at the start of a hearing on Wednesday.

The US TV network ABC said that the prosecution "could not have proceeded without the alleged victim in this case".

The AFP news agency reports that despite the collapse of the criminal case a civil lawsuit already filed against Mr Bryant by the woman will proceed, under a deal negotiated by prosecution and defence lawyers.

"I want to apologise to her for my behaviour that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year," said Mr Bryant in a statement issued after the case.

"Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognise now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did."

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Guess that the millionaire wants, the millionaire gets.

Anyone in the universe think that justice was done here? Jerry Buss must be over the moon!