The Denver Post
Bryant seeks tally of aid for accuser
Monday, April 26, 2004 -
Kobe Bryant's defense team wants to know what compensation the basketball star's accuser and her family may have received.
They claim that if the woman and her family have been lavished with compensation - including money - it could demonstrate "her financial bias in making and maintaining a false accusation against Mr. Bryant." They want all information regarding compensation paid to the accuser and her family by state and local government agencies, something prosecutors say the defense is not entitled to. Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon will ask Judge Terry Ruckriegle for the information at a pretrial hearing that begins today in Eagle. The defense is especially interested in reports that the alleged victim received treatment at The Meadows addiction treatment center in Wickenburg, Ariz. The defense said her stay there was publicized in a newspaper and that she talked about the treatment with several people. Haddon, in court papers, described The Meadows as a "very expensive facility" that charges about $35,000 a month. He wants to know who paid for it. "I have never seen a case where the victim-compensation fund paid to send an accuser to a drug or an alcohol inpatient treatment program," Denver defense lawyer Larry Pozner said. "If they paid for it, it is an enormous expense. And it sounds very much like a private coddling, like a private trust fund for her on government expense." Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert said in court documents that he isn't aware that the alleged victim stayed at The Meadows or any other facility. He said that any payments for therapy would have been provided through the Crime Victim's Compensation Fund and that no specific facilities were named. Karen Steinhauser, a former prosecutor and now a professor at the University of Denver law school, said receiving victim compensation doesn't undermine a victim's credibility. She said victims of all types of crimes, by Colorado law, can be compensated. "To suggest that because of compensation they will change their stories doesn't hold water," Steinhauser said. Victims routinely receive compensation for therapy. And former prosecutors say it isn't unusual for victims or witnesses to be moved with police protection when threats are made against them.
Former Denver prosecutor Bill Buckley said that moving victims and witnesses for their safety is necessary to protect vulnerable people vital to the judicial system. He said it happened in Denver when he was a prosecutor. "You have to maintain some semblance of security for victims and make sure they are going to be available," Buckley said. He said he doesn't believe witness credibility is affected by such safeguards. Cynthia Stone, spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said state lawmakers decided years ago that crime victims needed to be compensated. Stone said the Bryant defense is trying to make a good thing look sinister. "This defense team is trying to skew the normal process against this victim," Stone said. "Once again, this defense team has thrown out any sort of rumor or hearsay ... in an effort to discredit her." The alleged victim, a former front-desk employee at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, says Bryant sexually assaulted her in his room June 30. Bryant says the liaison at the upscale hotel near Edwards was consensual. Haddon and Mackey could not be reached for comment.
In particular, they cited a New York rape case in which a new trial was ordered when compensation applied for and given to a victim wasn't reported properly. "I think it can be important to her credibility," Denver defense lawyer Dan Recht said. "For example, if she is receiving substantial amounts of money on a regular basis, then she has a motivation to make what might seem to be a lie in order to keep getting that money. "If she is getting direct payments for moving or just living or getting by, ... I would say that is the kind of issue a jury has a right to know about," he said. Hurlbert said that if the defense has any information about the woman being treated at facilities, it was gathered in violation of state and federal law. He added that other than the dollar amounts, records about compensation are privileged. No compensation has been paid by the district attorney's office, he said. Another issue Ruckriegle will hear this week is the request by prosecutors and the accuser to have Bryant enter a plea and have a trial date set. Of concern to prosecutors is a 1989 Colorado Supreme Court decision by Justice William Erickson that said it is best for a defendant to enter a plea at an arraignment first and then hold motions hearings later. Doing motions first and then arraigning the defendant, as Ruckriegle is doing, can adversely affect the speedy trial rights of a defendant, the opinion said. But Erickson, now retired, said Ruckriegle has the discretion to do motions first if no one objects. If Bryant is convicted and the case is appealed, the thing that will be examined is whether Ruckriegle's way of doing things damaged Bryant's right to a speedy trial, he said. Erickson noted the basketball star hasn't asked to be arraigned. |