"Kobe is innocent and now he is free." -- What a mess. After a bungled prosecution effort, massive incompetence by the Colorado judicial system, and vicious smear tactics by an unrepentant defense team, the charges against Kobe have been dropped. Read his apology -- hmmm, something about that last paragraph makes me think one of his lawyers drew this up, don't you agree? Or do apologetic date rapists usually say things like "part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident"? Right. This case was the embodiment of "hard cases make bad law," and it showed how difficult it is for our legal system to deal with this kind of sexual assault case. Everybody loses.