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(11/06/06 5:17am)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Less than 24 hours after he was fired from the pulpit of the evangelical megachurch he founded, the Rev. Ted Haggard confessed to his followers Sunday that he was guilty of sexual immorality.\nIn a letter that another clergyman read to the congregation of the New Life Church, Haggard apologized for his acts and requested forgiveness.\n"I am so sorry for the circumstances that have caused shame and embarrassment for all of you," he said, adding that he had confused the situation by giving inconsistent remarks to reporters denying the scandal.\n"The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life," he said.\nHaggard resigned last week as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, where he held sway in Washington and condemned homosexuality, after a man claimed to have had drug-fueled homosexual trysts with him. Haggard also placed himself on administrative leave from the New Life Church, which has 14,000 members, but its independent Overseer Board fired him Saturday.\nIn his letter, Haggard said "the accusations made against me are not all true but enough of them are that I was appropriately removed from (this) church leadership position."\nHe did not give details on which accusations were true.\nThe Rev. Larry Stockstill, senior pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baker, La., and a member of the board that fired Haggard, read the letter to the church.\nYoungsters were sent out of the room before elders began speaking about the church crisis.\n"Worshippers are always challenged by crisis. And when tragedy and crisis strikes, it is at that moment that you truly decide if you are a worshipper of the most high God. And today, as the worship pastor of this church, I am very proud of you," said the Rev. Ross Parsley, who has replaced Haggard.\n"I am so grateful for the government system in place here at this church. ... The speed with which things were dealt with this week has been a testimony to the godliness, to the integrity and authority of the overseers of the board of this church," he said.\nHaggard, 50, had acknowledged Friday that he paid Mike Jones of Denver for a massage and for methamphetamine but said he did not have sex with him and did not take the drug.\nThe Overseer Board, made up clergy from various churches, used stronger language.\n"Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct," the board said in a statement.\nThe NEA, representing 30 million evangelicals, named the Rev. Leith Anderson, senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., as its interim president.\nJones said in a telephone interview Sunday: "I am sad for him and his family. I know this is a tough day for him also. I wish him well. I wish his family well. My intent was never to destroy his family. My intent was to expose a hypocrite.\n"I hope the healing process can start. I welcome his request for forgiveness for me."\nHaggard's situation is a disappointment to Christian conservatives, whom President George W. Bush and other Republicans are courting heavily in the run-up to Tuesday's election.\nMany were already disheartened with the president and the Republican-controlled Congress over their failure to deliver big gains on social issues even before the congressional page scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley.\nHaggard, who had been president of the evangelical association since 2003, has participated in conference calls with White House staffers and lobbied Congress last year on Supreme Court nominees.\nHaggard founded New Life in the mid-1980s and held its first services in the basement of his Colorado Springs home.\nJones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered who Haggard was and found out that New Life had publicly opposed same-sex marriage -- a key issue in Colorado, with a pair of issues on Tuesday's ballot.\nAssociated Press reporter Robert Weller in Denver contributed to this report.
(08/05/04 1:07am)
DENVER -- The woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape will have to discuss with prosecutors whether she will go ahead with the criminal case because she fears the release of court documents about her sex life threatens her chance of getting a fair hearing, one of her lawyers said Wednesday.\nJohn Clune said his 20-year-old client will have to talk to prosecutors soon about that and will also consider whether to file a civil suit against the NBA star.\nAsked if his client is considering dropping out of the criminal case, Clune told The Associated Press: "That's something she and prosecutors will have to discuss in the immediate future. The DA's office will have to make that decision on what they want to do."\nThe woman's other lawyer, L. Lin Wood, said decisions on how to proceed should be made in a matter of days. Bryant is scheduled to go on trial Aug. 27 in Eagle, Colo.\n"This young woman is not going away. Whether it proceeds criminally or civilly or both, justice is going to be had for this young woman," Clune said.\nProsecutors have been in constant contact with the accuser and her lawyers throughout the case and were told the woman would still participate even after the release of the transcripts, district attorney's spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said Wednesday.\n"Nothing has changed with our plans of going forward with the prosecution of this case," she said.\nUnder pressure from the U.S. Supreme Court, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle released Monday some 200 pages of transcripts from a closed-door hearing in June. The transcripts had been mistakenly e-mailed to The Associated Press and six other media organizations, who fought for the right to publish their contents.\nThe documents include testimony from a DNA expert for the defense, Elizabeth Johnson, who says she is convinced the accuser had sex with someone after Bryant and before she contacted authorities -- a claim that Clune has vehemently denied.\nJohnson based her conclusion on the discovery of another man's sperm on the woman when she underwent a rape exam at a hospital.\nThere was no testimony in the documents from a prosecution expert on the issue. Clune and prosecutors say the transcripts are one-sided and that a gag order in the case prevents them from presenting their explanation of the damaging evidence before the trial.\nProsecutors have suggested the woman put on underwear that hadn't been washed before going to the hospital, transferring semen from a man identified only as "Mr. X" to her body.\nThe judge has said the defense can present evidence about the woman's sexual activities in the three days before the July 1, 2003, hospital exam, saying it is relevant to help determine the cause of her injuries, the source of DNA evidence and her credibility.\nClune has kept a low profile during the case, but Wednesday he and Wood appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" to express their frustration with court mistakes which breached the woman's privacy.\n"The amount of damage that has been caused by the court's error is so harmful not only to this case but to this young woman that it would be irresponsible for us not to speak at this time," Clune told the AP.\nIn September, the woman's name was included in a filing on a state courts Web site that was quickly removed. Last fall, the hospital where she and Bryant were examined accidentally turned over her medical records to attorneys in the case.\nThat was followed by the e-mail mistake in June and a gaffe last week in which a sealed order by Ruckriegle was mistakenly posted on the Web site, divulging her name again and information about DNA evidence collected during Bryant's hospital exam.\nBryant, 25, has pleaded not guilty to felony sexual assault, saying he had consensual sex with the woman at a Vail-area resort last summer. If convicted, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation, and a fine up to $750,000.
(07/24/03 1:56am)
EAGLE, Colo. -- The 19-year-old woman who accused Kobe Bryant of sexually assaulting her had "visible evidence" of the alleged attack a week later, one of her friends said Tuesday.\nLuke Bray declined to be more specific out of respect for his friend and her family.\n"There is visible evidence of what happened," he said.\nEagle County sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Andree declined comment on Bray's statement. Neither prosecutor Mark Hurlbert nor Bryant's attorneys returned telephone messages seeking comment.\nHurlbert has said he believes he has enough physical and testimonial evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.\nThe 24-year-old Bryant was charged with one count of sexually assaulting the concierge at an exclusive mountain resort last month. He said the sex was consensual and that he only committed adultery.\nThe Los Angeles Lakers star is free on bond pending an Aug. 6 court hearing, during which he will be formally advised of the charge against him.\nAn Eagle County district judge has sealed most documents, including the arrest affidavit, details of the physical evidence and other information. The Denver Post, the Los Angeles Times, NBC and the Vail Daily have asked a district judge to release some of the material.\nLawyers for the Vail Daily and the alleged victim filed written arguments Tuesday in the newspaper's request for police reports it believes are related to the woman. Hurlbert may file his own brief, spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said.\nThe alleged victim is a college student who took a summer job at the Lodge & Spa at the Cordillera in nearby Edwards. Friends say she is an energetic former cheerleader known for her love of music. She once tried out for the television program, "American Idol."\nBray, 21, said he saw the woman about a week after the alleged June 30 assault. "She was still shaken up. She was pretty much in denial," he said. "She couldn't believe it."\nHe said the woman was also at his house Friday to watch news conferences where Hurlbert announced the charges and Bryant admitted adultery and apologized to his wife.\n"She couldn't believe that his wife was sitting there and apparently didn't care about adultery," Bray said.\nSara Dabner, 17, who sang in the Eagle County High School choir with the woman, asked: "Why would a woman put herself through all of this, having people call her names? I think she just wants to see justice done. She's not trying to drag him through the dirt"