Brian Banks

Brian Banks logged onto Facebook last year, and a new friend request startled him. It was the woman who, nearly a decade ago, accused him of rape when they were both students at Long Beach Poly High School. Banks had served five years in prison for the alleged rape, and now he was unemployed and weary. So he replied to Wanetta Gibson with a question: Would she meet with him and a private investigator? She agreed. At the meeting, which was secretly recorded, Gibson said she had lied.

Prosecutors said Thursday that they won't refile charges against Kash Delano Register, a Los Angeles man who spent more than three decades in prison for a murder conviction that was overturned by a judge last month. Register served 34 years behind bars in connection with the 1979 killing of an elderly man in West Los Angeles. He always maintained his innocence, and in November he was released from prison after attorneys from Loyola Law School's Project for the Innocent argued that a key witness in the case had lied.

Re "Outlook unclear for rape accuser," May 26 It is mind-boggling that prosecutors can have any reservation about going after Brian Banks' false accuser, Wanetta Gibson. Banks spent five years of his life in prison while he could have been playing professional football. Gibson collected $750,000 in a bogus lawsuit against a school. Need I say more? Gibson should be prosecuted expeditiously, independent of the merits of a successful or unsuccessful verdict Although Banks is technically not a war veteran, indirectly he is. He just finished a hellish war. I hope Banks had a happy Memorial Day; he deserved a break.

The dream of playing in this year's regular season of the NFL ended Friday for Brian Banks, a standout football player from Long Beach Polytechnic, who spent five years in prison before his rape conviction was overturned.  Banks, 27, signed with the Atlanta Falcons this spring as a linebacker but tweeted Friday afternoon that "as most have heard, my time with the Atlanta Falcons have come to an early end. " "This experience has shown me...

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has reversed the 2002 rape and kidnapping conviction of former Long Beach Poly football standout Brian Banks. Banks, now 26, was wrongly convicted of the charges based on the testimony of Wanetta Gibson, an acquaintance. Gibson testified that Banks raped her on the Poly campus. Banks said the encounter was consensual. Rather than face a prison term of from 41 years to life, Banks accepted a plea deal that destroyed his dream of playing college football.

Not only does Brian Banks have a new lease on life, but he has a flicker of NFL hope. After spending five years in prison on charges of rape and kidnapping, and five more as a falsely accused registered sex offender, the recently exonerated Banks made the most of his workout for Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. Carroll invited him back to participate in Seahawks mini-camp next week. "He deserved a chance," Carroll told reporters. "This is a guy who deserved it. " Banks, 26, who had been a standout linebacker at Long Beach Poly when he was accused of raping classmate Wanetta Gibson on campus during summer school.

The Seattle Seahawks have confirmed they will hold a tryout for Brian Banks, the former Long Beach Poly football star who was freed after serving five years in prison for a rape case in which he was falsely accused. Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll did not speak to reporters after the Seahawks' off-season workout on Wednesday, but the team confirmed that Banks will work out for the team on June 7. Banks, now 26, pleaded no contest 10 years ago on the advice of his lawyer after a childhood friend falsely accused him of attacking her on their high school campus.

RENTON, WASH. -- Brian Banks is living a childhood dream (and probably a Hollywood screenplay), but he faces long odds of garnering an invitation to training camp from the Seattle Seahawks. Banks, the former Long Beach Poly linebacker who spent five years in jail after being falsely accused of rape, participated in Seahawks minicamp Wednesday and plans to do so Thursday. If the team doesn't sign him to a deal that assures him of a spot in training camp, he will fly to Minnesota later Thursday to work out for the Vikings.

This is a corrected version of the original post; see the note below. Brian Banks spent more than five years in prison for a rape and kidnapping that, as the courts now find, he did not commit; the repercussions of how the case sorts itself out in the justice system will take a lot longer than that. There are several threads to follow and figure out in the story of the promising teenaged Long Beach football star who, on his lawyer's advice, pleaded no contest to the rape charge rather than chance a jury trial and a 40-years-to-life sentence.

The dream of playing in this year's regular season of the NFL ended Friday for Brian Banks, a standout football player from Long Beach Polytechnic, who spent five years in prison before his rape conviction was overturned.  Banks, 27, signed with the Atlanta Falcons this spring as a linebacker but tweeted Friday afternoon that "as most have heard, my time with the Atlanta Falcons have come to an early end. " "This experience has shown me...

Brian Banks, who is fighting for a job with the Atlanta Falcons, said his debut in a preaseason game on Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals "was better than any roller-coaster ride you can ever get on. " Banks, a 28-year-old from Long Beach Poly High, should know about roller-coaster rides. He was a rising gridiron star before he was falsely accused of rape when he was 16, eventually being convicted and imprisoned for five years. He was released last year when his conviction was overturned after his accuser recanted her story.

The Long Beach Unified School District has won a $2.6-million judgment in its lawsuit against a former student who falsely accused classmate and football player Brian Banks of rape, officials said. "The court recognizes that our school district was a victim in this case," district Supt. Christopher J. Steinhauser said in a statement last week. "This judgment demonstrates that when people attempt to defraud our school system, they will feel the full force of the law. " The Los Angeles County Superior Court judgment handed down Monday includes the $750,000 settlement that the district had originally paid to Wanetta Gibson, as well as interest, attorney fees and $1 million in punitive damages.

The Long Beach Unified School District has won a $2.6-million judgment in its lawsuit against a former student who falsely accused classmate and football player Brian Banks of rape, officials said Thursday. "The court recognizes that our school district was a victim in this case," district Supt. Christopher J. Steinhauser said in a statement. "This judgment demonstrates that when people attempt to defraud our school system, they will feel the full force of the law. " The Los Angeles County Superior Court judgment handed down June 17 includes the $750,000 settlement the district had originally paid to Wanetta Gibson, as well as interest, attorney fees and $1 million in punitive damages.

The Long Beach Unified School District is suing a former female student who admitted to falsely accusing ex-Poly High football star Brian Banks of rape in 2002. The lawsuit against former Polytechnic High School student Wanetta Gibson was filed last November, just months after Banks' rape conviction was dismissed.  Banks had spent five years in prison and another five on parole. He recently signed an NFL contract with the Atlanta Falcons.  The school district said it is trying to recoup about $1.9 million that was spent defending itself after Gibson sued the district and collected a $750,000 settlement.

Brian Banks was inside a New York television studio, waiting to tape an episode of "The View," when he got a long-awaited call from a friend. For weeks, Banks had known that signing a contract to play with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons was a possibility. But he had tried out with several NFL teams the season before and did not come away with a contract. “You're holding your breath,” Banks' attorney Justin Brooks said.     Brooks was with Banks and his mother Tuesday when the exonerated former high school football standout heard the magic words: The Falcons wanted Banks in Atlanta the next day for a physical exam.

The Riverside City College student body president is a registered sex offender who has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and committing lewd acts with a child less than 14 years old. School officials knew about the status of Doug Robert Figueroa, 40, prior to his run for office, but in a statement, they said they had “determined that there was no policy, statute or ordinance that could prohibit this student from seeking office as student body president”...

The Long Beach Unified School District is suing a former female student who admitted to falsely accusing ex-Poly High football star Brian Banks of rape in 2002. The lawsuit against former Polytechnic High School student Wanetta Gibson was filed last November, just months after Banks' rape conviction was dismissed.  Banks had spent five years in prison and another five on parole. He recently signed an NFL contract with the Atlanta Falcons.  The school district said it is trying to recoup about $1.9 million that was spent defending itself after Gibson sued the district and collected a $750,000 settlement.

Brian Banks was inside a New York television studio, waiting to tape an episode of "The View," when he got a long-awaited call from a friend. For weeks, Banks had known that signing a contract to play with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons was a possibility. But he had tried out with several NFL teams the season before and did not come away with a contract. “You're holding your breath,” Banks' attorney Justin Brooks said.     Brooks was with Banks and his mother Tuesday when the exonerated former high school football standout heard the magic words: The Falcons wanted Banks in Atlanta the next day for a physical exam.

Brian Banks called signing a contract with the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday the greatest accomplishment of his life, aside from clearing his name. Officials of his new team said they were happy to have him on board. "We are pleased to have Brian join our team," Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement. "We had a chance to work him out last year and have been monitoring his progress since then. "He has worked extremely hard for this chance over the last year and he has shown us that he is prepared for this opportunity.

Brian Banks, the former Long Beach Polytechnic High School football standout who spent five years in prison before his rape conviction was overturned, has finally earned a spot with an NFL team. Banks, 27, has signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a linebacker, the team announced Wednesday on its website. “We are pleased to have Brian join our team,” general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “We had a chance to work him out last year and have been monitoring his progress since then.