Kobe Rebounds

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Women's rights advocates, who worry because the loss in the criminal case could discourage women from reporting sex crimes, took some solace in Bryant's apology. Said Cynthia Stone of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault: "If this had been dismissed without that statement, it would have been devastating. It was a validation."

But it was not a conviction, or even a verdict, and Bryant's accuser may be saddled with a kind of fame she never bargained for. "It has ruined the life that she's known," says Strickland of his ex-girlfriend. "Her future is pretty well set for her. She's not allowed to put it behind her."