Denver Post
Bryant to stand trial on sex assault charge
Monday, October 20, 2003 - Kobe Bryant was ordered today to stand trial for allegedly raping a 19-year-old employee at an upscale Edwards resort.
The Los Angeles Lakers star is to return to Colorado Nov. 10 to be arraigned in district court. Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett's ruling clears the way for a celebrity trial the likes of which haven't been seen since O.J. Simpson was in court. Gannett ruled that evidence presented at a recent preliminary hearing was sufficient to order a trial when viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution - the legal standard in Colorado. "The presence of blood on the victim's underwear and defendant's T-shirt are ... evidence of submission and force based on the opinions" of the nurse who examined Bryant's accuser, Gannett said. But Gannett qualified his opinion, noting that the evidence introduced at the two-day preliminary hearing, which ended last week, could be interpreted in other ways more favorable to the defense. Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said he was "pleased with the judge's decision, although we had confidence all along in the case and presentation of evidence." At the Lakers’ El Segundo, Calif., practice facility, Bryant was
asked before the ruling how much anxiety he was feeling.
"Basketball, zero anxiety. Other stuff, a little anxiety," he
said. "But now I just pretty much, you know, give it up. I’ve pretty
much I done all I can. Now I’ll let God carry me the rest of the
way. I feel comfortable with that."
Before the ruling, the Lakers wrapped up practice at their El Segundo, Calif., facility and Bryant was asked about the decision that would be coming out of the Colorado courtroom. "What courtroom?" he said. The alleged rape occurred June 30 at around 11 p.m. in Bryant's room at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera. The woman, a 2002 Eagle Valley High School graduate who attended the University of Northern Colorado, had shown Bryant around the hotel on a private tour and then accepted an invitation to come into his room. Bryant, 25, an all-star guard for the Lakers, faces four years to life in prison if convicted of the Class 3 felony of sexual assault. Bryant has admitted he had sex with the woman but said it was consensual. During the hearing, Bryant's lawyer, Pamela Mackey, implied that lacerations to the woman's vagina, which caused her to bleed, weren't caused by a rape but by consensual sex the woman had with two other men. The woman said she had consensual intercourse with a man two days before the alleged rape. And the day after her encounter with Bryant, she went to a sexual-assault exam wearing underwear containing the semen and pubic hair of a man other than Bryant. Mackey told Gannett that prosecutors had presented "an extremely thin case" and claimed the woman's story couldn't be believed. The woman was living with her parents in Eagle on June 30, about 15 miles from the hotel. The rape allegedly occurred after the accuser and Bryant kissed and hugged for five minutes. But the accuser claimed she resisted after Bryant began to grope her. She said as she resisted, Bryant grabbed her by the neck with both hands, turned her around, bent her over a chair, pulled up her skirt, yanked her panties down and raped her for five minutes. Gannett's opinion came after two days of preliminary hearing testimony, on Oct. 9 and last Wednesday. The single witness, Detective Doug Winters, testified that the woman, who worked at the lodge in Edwards, took Bryant's reservation. She knew who he was and was excited to meet him, the detective said. After checking him and his entourage into the hotel, she agreed to return to Bryant's room - Room 35- after Bryant requested a private tour of the hotel. During the tour, there was mutual flirting. Bryant complemented the woman on her clothing and height of 5-foot-9-inches. He also asked her if she had boyfriend and she said no. When they returned to his room, the woman accepted the basketball star's invitation to come in. She sat on the couch and he sat in a nearby chair. They talked about various things, including her tattoos. She declined Bryant's invitation to accompany him to the hotel's hot tub but asked for his autograph. He said he would give her one later. He then asked for a hug, and she agreed. "She said he began kissing her mouth and neck, which she agreed to. She said she was fine with that," Winters said. "She was excited that he was showing interest and agreed to hugging and kissing." But then, Winters said, the alleged victim said Bryant began fondling her breasts, buttocks and vaginal area and she didn't want that. She told Bryant she needed to leave and was trying to leave by getting around him, Winters testified. But the 6-foot-7-inch Los Angeles Lakers star guard blocked her movements and then grabbed her by the neck with both hands, turned her around and marched her toward some chairs. "She was afraid he was going to choke her," Winters testified. "She said she was scared at this point." Winters testified that Bryant then raped her, even though she said "no" at least twice. The woman told Winters that during the five minutes she was sexually penetrated, Bryant never let go of her neck, moaned and told her "he liked Vail, Colorado," Winters testified. Winters also testified the accuser said she cried and was in pain throughout the rape, and was forced to kiss Bryant's penis after the rape ended. Bryant then asked her several times if she was going to tell anyone. She said no, for fear that Bryant would hurt her even more than he already had, Winters said. Winters testified that the rape ended shortly after the woman began prying the basketball star's hands from around her neck. Winters testified that at no time did the woman say she intended to have consensual intercourse with Bryant, that she was afraid of Bryant and was still in pain on July 1 from the rape which caused her to bleed. Following the alleged rape, Bryant told the woman to go into the bathroom to clean up, Winters said. In the bathroom - where she spent about five minutes - she fixed up her hair and rinsed her face, trying to wash away the tears, testimony showed. Winters said that he first met the accuser at her Eagle home on July 1, the day after the alleged assault. Winters testified that the alleged victim took the matter very seriously and her voice cracked while she related what happened. "She said she worked at the lodge the night before. She stated that Kobe Bryant came up there to stay. And long story short, she said he raped her," Winters testified. "I explained to her if this was a false (allegation), it would be serious and she'd be held liable. She said she knew. She said she wanted to continue forward," Winters testified. The woman said she hadn't showered since the incident. And investigators collected what she was wearing that night - a one-piece black dress, a black coat, a bra, panties and shoes. Gannett recessed the first day of the preliminary hearing after defense attorney Mackey implied that injuries to the woman may have been the result of sleeping around with "three men in three days." When the hearing resumed the following week, the judge permitted Mackey to continue that line of questioning and reveal other possible evidence helpful to Bryant. Among the points: - The night auditor at the hotel allegedly told investigators that she didn't believe the accuser was assaulted. She told investigators that the woman was excited to meet Bryant and stayed hours past her normal working hours so she could see him. When the young woman returned from the room where she later claimed Bryant raped her, the auditor, a woman, said nothing looked or sounded amiss when she saw her fellow employee. - The accuser, Mackey said, assigned Bryant to a room in one wing of the hotel and his body guards to another wing and then sneaked up to his room using a back employees' entrance for a previously arranged rendezvous. The accuser told detectives she flirted with Bryant while she was giving him the private tour of the hotel and expected "Kobe Bryant to put a move on her" when they returned to his room. - Investigators asked the accuser early in the investigation why she never told Bryant "no" in an effort to stop his advances. The Associated Press contributed to this report. For the complete text of Judge Gannett's ruling, click here.
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