A Look At The Eric Frimpong Case Through A Former Teammates Eyes
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Just yesterday ESPN columnist Sam Alipour published an in depth, online story (which will appear in July 13th issue of ESPN The Magazine) about former UCSB Soccer standout Eric Frimpong and the six years he’s currently serving in State Prison after being charged and convicted of Rape in a California Courtroom.
Have a look at the case through former college teammate and current Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Kyle Reynish’s eyes, a man who has and will continue to stand by Frimpong’s side.
“After finishing my first MLS season in 2007 I was excited to head back to Santa Barbara to see many of my former college teammates. However, upon my return to UCSB, I was horrified to find out that District Attorney’s office of Santa Barbara was in fact pursuing it’s case against my former teammate and good friend Eric Frimpong.
For the majority of the next two months I was in court everyday, alongside many other supporters of Eric, watching as the DA was trying to convince the all white jury made up of 9 women and 3 men that Eric was guilty of the crime he was accused of.
Most days after court was over I would make Eric come train with me to keep his mind off the case and continue to work towards his dream of playing professional soccer. Since I had studied law at UCSB, he would ask me questions about the trial and I would translate a lot of legal jargon he was hearing into terms he could understand, while trying to convince him that our legal system was built upon the key ideal that no innocent person shall be convicted.
Furthermore, I insisted we need to keep training hard so that when his nightmare was finally over and the case was dismissed, he would be ready to pursue his dream of an educated life and soccer career in America.
As it turns out I was wrong.
On December 17, 2007 he was convicted and later sentenced to 6 years in prison.
Much of my second offseason was spent driving 75 miles out to Tehachapi prison to see Eric and spend the day with him during his visitor hours on the weekends. Because we were allowed outside, I even got the chance to juggle a soccer ball around with him, just like we used to do before practice or games in college.
When speaking to people about this tragic story, people often look at me confused, as if I could make up such a thing.
However to my relief ESPN magazine just published an article that tells that of Eric Frimpong and the current situation the case finds itself in.”
Kyle Reynish
Image via TheSantaBarbaraIndependent
Absolutely incredible. I don’t even know what to say besides giving praise to ESPN the Magazine for publishing this article. May the truth be revealed and may he be exonerated to fulfill his dreams in life.
what a sad story it all sounds very dodgy,given the jury selection (”peers?”) and the evidence used as well as the testimony of witnesses and alleged victim.hope he will have a decent appeal where the facts can all be examined closer and hopefully out of santa barbara
[…] A Look At The Eric Frimpong Case Through A Former Teammates Eyes … […]
I just read the article in ESPN. I was shocked at how the conviction of Eric Frimpong even came to be. It does not seem possible that the case was even allowed to see a day in court. I shared the story with many of my colleages, and they were equally mortified. I hope that this story being published to a national audience, will raise attention and offer resources, as well as increased support to get this trial re-tried if not thrown out. I will continue to pray for Eric, and for justice to soon be served.
There are so many troubling parts of this story that even the ESPN story did not cover. For one thing, Eric Frimong’s attorney had just served as co-council for the defense in the Santa Barbara County vs Michael Jackson child molestation case, surely making Mr. Sanger very unpopular at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and District Attorney’s Office. I followed this case while the trial was happening and I was shocked at the jury’s guilty verdict. I knew the case would rightly be appealed and I am ashamed to say I did not think much more about it until seeing the ESPN story online last week. I will no longer leave it up to others to make sure justice is done. I am emailing everyone I know and letting them no about this fine young man wrongly imprisoned. At the very least Eric Frimpong deserves a new trial.
Very very sad story.
The people of Santa Barbara should be ashamed of themselves.
How in the HELL does 12 WHITE jurors preside over a BLACK male from GHANA
charged with raping a WHITE WOMEN?
It all reminds me of “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”.
AND Nothing in 2009 should remind us of ” TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”!
I think it is pretty sensationalist and dishonest of ESPN and other sources to refer to the fact that the jury is “all white” as somehow being unfair. Santa Barbara is 75% white, and less than 2% black. It would have been a travesty had the jury been purposely made up of a proportion of jurors that would not reflect this fact.
glad the article was published so I could offer monetary support to his defense fund, prayers for justice, and pass the story on to my friends and family.
To gaucho2008 that you would even write what you did about the lack of diversity in Santa Barbara and on the jury somehow making this trial ok because that’s who lives there, underscores the part of your education you are lacking and why he probably didn’t get a fair trial. They think like you and you have probably never had diversity training because you didn’t need to right?
I am disapointed in ESPN for publishing such a dishonest story. Some of the most compelling evidence was left out of the article. For example the article says that Frimpong admitted to being with Jane Doe that night. Initially he did not and said it was a blond he had been with and been playing beer pong with. Jane Doe has dark hair. WHy lie about that, and why did the article not talk about this. Interesting.
How does something like this happen in the 21st century…..in Santa Barbara, CA. This story resembles the deep south in 1930. Very disturbing…………
The DA’s office should be ashamed.
@ Johnny 123 - ESPN also did not publish a lot of the lies told by the “victim”. She was so drunk it was almost lethal. She had her boyfriend’s DNA and not Eric, the bite marks was more consistant with her boyfriend and because Eric had initially denied seeing her (which I haven’t read anywhere) makes him guilty? Wow, I wonder how some people think. I still don’t understand why people are still accusing him with all these details comoing to light. Wake up and smell the coffee, this guy is obviously INNOCENT
I think it quite obvious the “victim” lied so that her boyfriend wouldn’t dump her or for other reasons involving drama.
To: Johnny123. He might have lied to protect his relationship with his girlfriend–that doesn’t make him a rapist. DNA doesn’t lie–this case seems like a no-brainer. Free Eric.
Is this the USA people want to live in?? IN santa Bandits i won’t ever go near…wicked Girl with u wicked family and racist Court room…T” THe Black guy had to do it” after all that evidence?? Come on USA. When Tupac got shot no suspects, even in Vagas. A drunk girl with little memo of events.
THis girl who had a strong desire to be with a BLACK man because of his big ‘timber’. But when he refused she’s mad at him for rejecting her so her silly jealous boy friend who even admits i was jealous takes a plan. Yet the jury think ” no he’s black and needs mess her up out of the million girls he could get with his success he had to mess this drunk stinking cigg breath that black men hate??”
Am never going to come to the USA with this sought thing going on and others we keep hearing everyday in the news….SHAME to the girl and her family…SHAME to the Cops…SHAME to the USA system on Black innocent men with good ambition and helping your country to get on the map with football. Not talking American football. God knows his people and for the lack of faith her time will come when she would remember and beg for forgivness…Best believe
To Eric stay head up we all know it’s the system that locked you up not the majority of the people of Santa Bandits. Damn!!
Its very surprising I am seeing this in this time of ours. I thought this used to happen when black people were working on the field and most of them were wrongly accused and were jailed and killed. I hope it is not like…. I simply hope that boy was not jailed because of his colour…. God have mercy!!!
I do not see racism here. Getting a black jury in santa barbara would be ludicrous and call for totally stacking it. The judge and jury tried very hard to look at facts, but the problem is that under our court system ALL of the facts are not allowed. The fact that she was lethally drunk and does not remember ANYTHING, that Eric had said she had grabbed his scrotum AT THE PARTY even before they left on his first police interview and claimed they did not have sex were incredibly, not presented. He COULD have easily claimed they had consensual sex as who the hell could say, especially the way she was acting in front of others! the fact that the bite mark far more implicated her boyfriend was not broached by Eric’s lawyer. “Does not rule out” is the most meaningless phrase forensic evidence can spout to make it look in any way meaningful. At all levels this looks like a miscarriage, but PLEASE do not spout that racial nonsense.