The Denver Post
Bryant judge seals most court documents
Thursday, February 03, 2005 -
A federal judge took unusual steps Wednesday to try to slow the pretrial publicity swirling around the civil lawsuit against Kobe Bryant.
U.S. District Senior Judge Richard Matsch told lawyers that most information gathered by both sides would be sealed from the public until trial. That may include information that would not be admissible in trial. Lawyers on both sides of the Bryant case have been bickering about the ground rules of the discovery process. To support their arguments, they have filed motions with attachments of discoverable material, such as copies of letters and e-mails between the lawyers. The attachments also included reprints of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, as well as anonymous Internet bloggings or opinions. Motions automatically become public documents, as do their attachments. "This practice must stop," Matsch said. "These communications are matters for the court and should not be subjects for press releases. This court is not involved in the entertainment business." Bryant, 27, is being sued by a 21-year-old woman who says he raped her in June 2003 the night he checked into an exclusive resort west of Vail where she worked. Felony sexual-assault charges against Bryant were dropped last summer when the woman told Eagle County prosecutors she didn't want to testify at a criminal trial. The woman, whose name is being withheld by The Denver Post because she says she is a rape victim, is about five months pregnant. She appeared in court Wednesday with her lawyers and holding hands with an unidentified man.
Click here for an interactive presentation on Bryant's career.
Click here for a
timeline of the dismissed People v. Bryant criminal case.
Click here for
the state-court website with official court orders, filings and documents in the dismissed criminal case
against Bryant.
Bryant did not appear in court. Lin Wood, the woman's attorney, said he agreed with Matsch's ruling. "Too much has been filed (publicly), a lot of it stuff that shouldn't have been filed," Wood said. Bryant's attorneys refused to comment. Matsch said he wouldn't issue a generic order sealing all filings. Instead, he sealed everything except procedural requests or motions and his responses. The order also prohibits attorneys from quoting transcripts, depositions or other materials in motions filed with the court. Material quoted in motions automatically would become public. Matsch then said his order would be retroactive to when the civil suit was filed in August, a ruling that raised a few legal eyebrows. "It's unusual," said attorney Steve Zansberg, who represents The Denver Post. "Ordinarily, documents are filed under seal, then remain under seal until they are unsealed. In this case, documents that have been made public are now being sealed by the court. ... It's clear that Judge Matsch was unhappy with the way the attorneys were filing materials in this case." Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com. |