The Denver Post
Bryant enters not-guilty plea to rape count
Wednesday, May 12, 2004 -
Eagle - Reminded that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted of sexual assault, basketball star Kobe Bryant proclaimed himself "not guilty" in a firm and resolute voice during a pretrial hearing Tuesday afternoon.
With his accuser's parents seated in the courtroom gallery just behind him, the 6-foot-8-inch guard from the Los Angeles Lakers stood between his two primary defense attorneys and formally entered his plea. That all but ensured a trial will occur by late autumn. "As of this moment, the clock is running," said legal analyst Craig Silverman. "We have less than six months for a trial." After the hearing, Bryant, 25, sped away from the Eagle County courthouse in a caravan of sport utility vehicles to catch a plane and rejoin his team in Los Angeles for a playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. Although defense attorney Pamela Mackey waived the formal reading of the charge, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle detailed the allegation of a forceful sexual assault and noted that Bryant could spend four years to life in prison if convicted. When asked by the judge if he understood the charges against him, an expressionless Bryant responded: "Yes, sir." "How do you plead - guilty or not guilty?" Ruckriegle asked. "Not guilty," Bryant said. While long anticipated, the formal entry of a not-guilty plea marks a significant landmark in the 10-month-old case beset with lengthy legal wranglings of prosecutors and a particularly aggressive defense team. And it came in a surprisingly short hearing - which ended in two days despite being scheduled for three - when the two sides disclosed they had settled a number of disputes and were reduced to sparring over whether to call the 19-year-old accuser a "victim" before proving that a crime occurred. Although the dispute over terminology seems to be one of semantics, defense attorney Hal Haddon argued that calling the woman a victim in front of jurors presupposes Bryant's guilt. "Everyone ought to be on the same footing in this court," Haddon told Ruckriegle. "Everyone ought to be referred to by his or her own name, not as the victim, not as the defendant, not as accused rapist, not as accuser." At the very least, Haddon said, use a "content-neutral" term such as "complaining witness" to describe the former hotel clerk who raised the allegations. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert cited the definition created by the Colorado legislature that a "victim" in a sexual-assault case is the person making the allegation, a designation which allows that person access to support services and protection under the state Victim's Rights Act.
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"'Victim' is specifically defined in Colorado statute," Hurlbert said. "'Victim' is the correct term." Bryant's attorneys contend that the fateful June 30 encounter at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards was consensual. After holding hearings behind closed doors all day Monday and Tuesday morning on issues such as whether to suppress statements Bryant made to investigators after having knee surgery, Ruckriegle opened the courtroom in the afternoon on less-contentious pretrial motions. Among those was a defense effort to challenge the constitutionality of the state "rape- shield" law, which presumes that an accuser's sexual history is irrelevant in a rape case. Haddon pointed out that another state law indicates that a defendant's sexual history is presumed relevant, which he called "a blatant double standard." He noted that prosecutors have apparently agreed not to raise any evidence of Bryant's sexual history but argued that the 25-year-old, court-tested rape-shield law should be overturned to even the standards. "The rape-shield law doesn't rule that evidence out," Hurlbert responded, pointing out that defense attorneys may raise questions of sexual history to the judge behind closed doors, as they have in this case. "It just establishes a procedure for defendants to prove that it is relevant." Ruckriegle did not set a trial date immediately, saying he would await more progress on DNA testing. Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or at slipsher@denverpost.com . Staff writer Howard Pankratz contributed to this report. |