Wanetta Gibson
There is something fishy about the Brian Banks case. Wanetta Gibson's actions contradict themselves and aren't explainable. Having an investigative mind I decided to try to find out as much personal information about Gibson as possible, information that might reveal her state of mind.
It seems Wanetta Gibson is broke and has been for awhile.
At the age of 16, after accusing Brian Banks of raping her in a stairwell at Long Beach Poly High School Brian Banks who was also 16, was convicted of the crime and sent to jail for 5 years and 2 months. Upon his release he had to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and register as a sex offender.
After suing the school district for 1.5 million dollars, Gibson and her family received a $750,000 settlement. Despite receiving this large sum of money, Gibson is now broke. I'm sure the money caused many problems in her family and her mother had control over it's distribution.
It does not seem as if the money benefited her in any way through the years. She became a mother of two children ages 4 and 5. Two children she could not continuously support. In fact the family was receiving public assistance at one point until the county reduced it to an amount set aside just for the children's needs. She was ordered to pay $600 a month towards child support given to her two children but she could not do so. Two lawsuits were brought against her by the county for her failure to pay child support with the exclusion of last year, with county officials citing a lack of income and employment as being a factor.
So again, Gibson is broke! So, when she stated she didn't want to recant her testimony to prosecutors because she didn't want to be liable to pay the money back; I can only assume she was doing so under the belief that she would have to earn the settlement amount by working in order to pay it back.
I'll be honest and say for a slight moment I thought that Brian Banks and Gibson could have been in cohorts together so that he could win a lawsuit and give her a portion of it. Does that mean I think he really raped her? No, but Gibson's actions are beyond peculiar.
She stated that she feared recanting her testimony to prosecutors would affect her relationship with her children. Well, as you can see above her face and name is out there. If her statement was genuine the only thing I can assume is that she was being naive. Maybe she did not take into consideration the Internet and how news is conveyed thorough many outlets in this day and age. Maybe she thought she could confess in secrecy? Of course that's hard for me to imagine, particularly because she's on Facebook and apparently contacted Brian Banks using that forum. That leads me to believe she understands the far reach of the Internet and how viral things become in cyberspace.
But guess what? Despite her not wanting to make a spectacle of her recantation and simply wanted "bygones to be bygones". She had a second meeting with Brian Banks after her initial confession. During the second meeting Brian Banks came with an official private investigator, and once again she admitted to lying about the rape, this time in a more official setting. What did she think would be a result of doing this? She stated that she was willing to help Banks clear his name. Did she think she would not receive any scrutiny?
So in other words initially she said she was simply confessing to "let bygones, be bygones", then she said she would help Banks. But at the same time she said she didn't want her children to be affected, but made the confession a second time in a more formal way. Did she know she was being recorded? Who knows.
It sounds to me like Gibson knew and understood the law, which states the statue of limitations for false claims is 4 years. However it's hard for people who don't have legal expertise to account for all things and there seems to be a loophole to that law. Prosecutors can begin the statues limitation from the time they realize a person has lied.
It also seems that despite her claims of being fearful she would have to pay the money back, she realizes that because she has no money or real assets the state would not pursue her.
In another bizarre twist she has decided to recant her recantation after Brian Banks charges were dismissed.
Now lets be honest here! Brian Banks does not stand to gain a lot of money from his lawsuit against the state. He is asking for $100 for every day served. He's entitled to that amount under State Law 4900. He served 5 years and 2 months in jail, that's $188,500. It's not clear if he's including his time under house arrest and exactly how much time that amounts to. If you calculate an even 10 years he will receive at the most 365,000.
Brian Banks, in a peculiar twist has made it clear that he won't be suing Gibson for her false claims. It leads me to believe that somehow he realizes she doesn't have any money. If she did have money, it would be easier to go after her opposed to the Justice System because he pled "no contest" to the crime. If she had money he could sue her civilly because he has a recording of her recanting her testimony. In California you can record someone without their knowledge if it's done for a legitimate reason. In addition to this he also has a witness and her friend request on Facebook as evidence. The state however cannot use that testimony because she did not recant her testimony to them and as stated, has since recanted her recantation.
L.A. prosecutors have said they have no plans to charge her with making false accusations, saying it would be a tough case to prove.
Also, Legal experts noted it could be difficult for the Long Beach school district and its insurer to get the settlement back.
Wanetta Gibson at this point has nothing to lose because she is broke. Any amount of money would be a gold mine to her at this point.
This story has many holes in it and I hope more details come out about the case. Even though I am skeptical about how she reconnected with Banks and her reason for recanting her accusation, I don't think Brian Banks raped her in the first place so I hope she faces some form of repercussions for her actions.
I know that Brian Banks has said he's moved on and does not want to exert the ENERGY of being angry, but it's still peculiar to see Bloggers hate this woman with a fierceness not felt by Banks himself. he even claims she had no remorse in her confession. And it still baffles me that a woman like Gibson could simply crush the dreams of an aspiring athlete who had an almost guaranteed scholarship to USC. There wasn't any evidence that proved his guild just her word against his. And from what has been demonstrated he seemed like the more promising, upstanding pupil between the two, one that was about to play for the state. These are things that are normally taken into account.
Was he set up? Were there other factors involved? I hope we find out.
Above all, don't you want to know what the heck he said to her in that staircase to make her lose her mind and sacrifice her soul for revenge? Wow, I will try to keep updated on this case. I hope Brian Banks gets a chance to live his dreams.
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