Denver Post
Bryant team bids for accuser data
Saturday, December 20, 2003 -
EAGLE - Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case exchanged heated arguments Friday over access to the 19-year-old accuser's medical and psychological records.
In a motions hearing in Eagle District Court that featured spats over media leaks, tasteless T-shirts and access to the results of scientific testing, the most substantial legal debate centered on a victim's right to privacy. Attorneys split in heated discussions about whether the woman's conversations with family and friends nullified her privilege to keep her medical and psychological records confidential. Defense attorneys are seeking the records to bolster their argument that the woman filed a false report against the basketball star as part of a pattern to gain attention from her ex-boyfriend. Prosecutors and the woman's attorney, however, say the records must be kept secret and testimony about them needs to be conducted behind closed doors. "This family and this victim have done everything they can to stay out of the media," said John Clune, the woman's attorney. "Every aspect of the victim's life and prior sexual history is before the national media. Meanwhile, (Bryant's) admissions were deemed appropriate for an in-camera proceeding" during the October preliminary hearing, Clune said. The buzz surrounding Friday's hearing was a far cry from previous appearances by the Los Angeles Lakers player. Bitter cold temperatures in the mountain community kept people from gathering outside the Eagle courthouse, where they had flocked for previous appearances by Bryant. Defense attorneys had lined up nine witnesses - including the accuser's mother - to testify at Friday's hearing before Judge Terry Ruckriegle, but prosecutors protested. Tom Kelley, the attorney for a consortium of media outlets including The Denver Post, argued that much of the information about the woman - including her purported suicide attempts, psychological troubles and sexual history - already has been made public and the witness testimony should be conducted in open court. That "cat is out of the bag" argument drew a livid response from Assistant District Attorney Ingrid Bakke, whose voice cracked as she railed against repeating "embarrassing, humiliating" details that could dissuade other sexual-assault victims from ever coming forward. "If you don't think there's an impact every time her face appears on the Globe," Bakke said, referring to a supermarket tabloid that has released the woman's name and photo, "it's just insensitive to the victim." Ruckriegle ultimately ended the public portion of the hearing and called on the defense attorneys to explain in private what each of their nine witnesses, including several friends, was going to say when each testified. Because weighing the rights of an alleged victim is a new area of law untested by higher courts, Ruckriegle asked lawyers on all sides to prepare detailed legal arguments by Jan. 5 in preparation for the next hearing on Jan. 23. "To the court's perspective, these issues are of such significant proportions, not the least of which is constitutionality and statutory intent, but also evidentiary admissibility," Ruckriegle said.
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The argument centered on a subtle nuance: whether the note written by an advocate at the Resource Center of Eagle County reflects a direct, and therefore confidential, conversation between the accuser and a rape counselor or a description of an overheard dialogue with a sheriff's investigator. "My position is that all records are protected" by the shield of secrecy surrounding patient-therapist relations, said Peggy Jessel, attorney for the Resource Center, a rape-crisis center. "If you can't trust the therapist, the patient can't get treatment, especially in sex-assault cases." Defense attorney Pamela Mackey argued that the notes taken by the victim's advocate actually reflect her observations of a conversation between the accuser and Eagle County sheriff's investigator Doug Winters and should be available to the defense. "This was a police investigatory interview which was attended by the advocate," Mackey said. "I've been told that it's one line, so I guess that's what I'm after." The dilemma pits a defendant's right to a fair trial and the public's access to the courts against the legally untested rights ensured by the decade-old Victim's Rights Amendment in the state constitution. "Instead of the usual two constitutional balls to juggle - the First Amendment right of the press and a defendant's right to a fair trial - there are three balls in the air with the addition of the creation of a new privilege," said Eagle County attorney Dave Lugert, a former prosecutor. Bryant, 25, who flew back to Los Angeles in time to play in Friday night's game against the Denver Nuggets, could face four years to life in prison if convicted of sexual assault. The June 30 incident occurred at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards, where he was staying while in the area for minor knee surgery. Bryant has publicly admitted to adultery but contends the liaison was consensual. |