Denver Postkobe bryant case
Attorney says accuser waived rights
Friday, December 19, 2003 -
Kobe Bryant's attorneys and prosecutors in the sexual-assault case against him swapped arguments Thursday over whether the medical records of his 19-year-old accuser should be kept secret.
A motions hearing in the case is scheduled for today in Eagle. Pamela Mackey, an attorney for the Los Angeles Lakers guard, asserted that the Eagle woman waived her right to secrecy of her medical records by discussing her alleged suicide attempts with others, including a sheriff's detective. "The evidence to be elicited at this hearing will show that the information contained in the subpoenaed records was discussed by the (woman) with a number of third parties," Mackey wrote in a motion released Thursday. "These conversations constitute an implicit waiver of the physician-patient privilege protecting the medical information." Prosecutors, however, said previous court rulings hold the secrecy privilege - especially in emotionally sensitive sexual-assault cases - can be intentionally waived only by the patient. Even accidental revelations or testimony in court would not lift that secrecy, according to those rulings. "The victim had not waived her privilege either by having a third party present during the communication, by the communication not in the course of treatment or by a communication to someone not covered in the statute, and that the defendant (is) not entitled to access the records," said Assistant District Attorney Ingrid Bakke, quoting a 1993 ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals. At issue today are defense subpoenas of medical records from the Eagle Valley Medical Center, the Northern Colorado Medical Center and the University of Northern Colorado police and the campus health services center surrounding two alleged suicide attempts by the woman. The defense wants to call into question the woman's credibility by raising the alleged suicide attempts - including one documented incident in February when she was held by police in Greeley as a danger to herself - and her purported use of psychiatric drugs. Mackey argued, in a motion released this week, that the woman falsely reported a sexual assault by Bryant as an attention-getting ploy toward her former boyfriend, following the same pattern of her suicide attempts. District Court Judge Terry Ruckriegle will decide whether to allow any information about her medical history to be admitted into a trial. "I think the defense has a tougher burden," said former Denver prosecutor Karen Steinhauser, now a law professor at the University of Denver. "In order for it to be admissible at trial, the judge is going to have to find it relevant." Bryant, 25, could face four years to life in prison if convicted of sexual assault in the June 30 incident at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards, where he was staying while in the area for minor knee surgery. The five-time NBA all-star has publicly admitted to adultery, but contends the liaison was consensual. In addition to the celebrity aspect of the case, analysts say it poses many difficult legal questions not commonly found in a single case. Bryant's attorneys are challenging the constitutionality of the state rape-shield law, which generally precludes discussions about an alleged rape victim's sexual history, and the issue of the woman's medical records similarly could frame the outcome of the case. "To me, this case is going to be all about the motions hearing," Steinhauser said. "There is so much evidence here that is crucial one way or another that can make a big difference as far as the outcome of the case." |