Denver Post
Bryant's attorneys want Feb. hearing closed
Monday, January 05, 2004 -
Attorneys for Kobe Bryant are asking a judge in the sexual-assault case against the NBA star to close a February hearing, saying evidence that will be discussed might taint the jury pool and may not even be allowed at trial.
Any parts of the Feb. 2-3 hearing that deal with statements Bryant made to investigators should be closed, defense attorney Hal Haddon said in a court filing released today. He noted that similar portions of Bryant's preliminary hearing in October were held behind closed doors. Bryant, 25, is charged with felony sexual assault stemming from a June 30 encounter with a hotel worker at a mountain resort west of Vail. Bryant has said he had consensual sex with the 19-year-old woman. If convicted, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation. The hearing was scheduled to deal with a defense request to throw out statements the Los Angeles Lakers guard made to police early July 2. The defense says the statements were obtained illegally because a sheriff's investigator used a hidden tape recorder and never read Bryant his rights. "If the statements attributed to the defendant are disseminated to the public and then suppressed, the intense media coverage of this case will insure that the jury pool will be exposed to these statements, even though they may have been ruled inadmissible," Haddon wrote in the latest filing. Haddon said the U.S. Supreme Court has approved closures of pretrial hearings, including those to discuss motions to suppress evidence. "Any constitutional right the media may have to attend a suppression hearing is, at most, a qualified right subject to the defendant's 'fundamental' right to a fair trial," he wrote. Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan prosecutors will "most likely" file a formal response to the request to close the hearing. Attorney Tom Kelley, who represents media organizations including The Associated Press, said the hearing can be conducted without disclosing the content of Bryant's statements. "They can discuss what led up to it, whether he reasonably believed he was in custody and things of that kind which can be probed without getting into the actual statements," he said. He said his clients had not yet determined whether to oppose the request. A Jan. 23 hearing has also been scheduled to discuss other issues, including a defense request to use the alleged victim's medical records as evidence. For now, that hearing is open to the public. |