The Denver Post
Court asked to keep details of Bryant's sex life private
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 -
Kobe Bryant has asked a federal court to prohibit a woman accusing him of rape from looking for information about his consensual sexual relationships, according to court documents filed Monday.
The basketball star is asking for a protective order keeping the woman, whose name is being withheld by The Denver Post, from conducting "a highly invasive fishing expedition" into Bryant's sex life, according to documents. Bryant's lawyers argued that his sexual partners - to the extent they exist - are not parties to the lawsuit and have a compelling interest in keeping their identities and behaviors private. The woman, who says Bryant raped her in his hotel room near Edwards in June 2003, has argued that she ought to be able to question Bryant on whether he has a history of misinterpreting unwanted sexual activity as consensual. Bryant's lawyers said that question should not give the woman license to inquire into each of Bryant's consensual sexual encounters.
DENVER
Man found slain in S. Monaco condo Denver police are investigating a slaying that occurred Monday night at a southeast Denver condominium, spokesman Sonny Jackson said. Police responded to a report of a shooting about 7 p.m. at 1050 S. Monaco Parkway and found a man dead in a unit at 1000 S. Monaco Parkway. Investigators were interviewing witnesses Monday night, but Jackson said there was no information about suspects or motive. The name and age of the victim weren't released. PUEBLO Body recovered after plane crashes in river A small airplane carrying two Colorado passengers plunged into the Arkansas River while trying to land at a fog-shrouded airport Monday. Divers later recovered a body from the water. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was registered to Herbert Kirby, 70, of Pueblo, and that the craft was being flown from Pueblo to Little Rock, Ark. His company, Kirby Fiberglass Inc., said he was flying to Destin, Fla., on business, with a stop scheduled at Little Rock for fuel. The single-engine plane went into the river about 12:30 p.m., police spokesman Sgt. Terry Hastings said. He said two people were aboard the plane, which submerged quickly. Divers recovered a body but had no sight of the plane. An oil slick formed, but the river was flowing so fast that it was difficult to locate the wreckage. After darkness fell Monday, Hastings said the search was suspended for the night because of the swiftness of the water. The search was expected to resume this morning. GRAND JUNCTION Bad weather imperils search for 3 skiers A search for three cross-country skiers missing on the Grand Mesa since Sunday morning took on added urgency Monday evening with strong winds and hazardous weather forecast for the mesa overnight. More than 25 searchers Monday combed the area around Jumbo Lake and the Skyway cross-country trail where the missing family was last seen Sunday morning and their vehicle was located Monday. Monday evening, searchers had picked up fresh tracks in the area that had a foot of new snow overnight but had not located the skiers. Missing are Dan Walker, 54, his wife, Deborah, 50, and their 18-year-old daughter, Camille. Family and friends told the Mesa County Sheriff's Department that the Walkers are experienced cross-country skiers. DENVER Court: No reversal for unanimous verdict A unanimous verdict in a Colorado trial cannot be overturned if jurors later say that it was not really unanimous, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday. The decision came in the case of Tiabra Hall, who filed a medical negligence suit against Dr. Robert H. Levine. After listening to trial testimony, the jury deliberated and returned a verdict in favor of Levine and signed a verdict form indicating it was unanimous. When asked, the jury foreperson said the verdict was unanimous. The jury was dismissed and left the courtroom. Minutes later a juror told Boulder Judge Roxanne Bailin that the verdict hadn't been unanimous. Several jurors confirmed that statement. Bailin ordered a new trial, holding that although the jury had been discharged and its verdict officially entered, previous Colorado court decisions allowed the jury to be recalled for further deliberations. But in Monday's unanimous opinion, Justice Nancy Rice said that under Colorado law, juror statements after the verdict about jury deliberations can't be used to reverse a verdict. DENVER More Hispanic pupils join English classes More eligible Spanish-speaking Denver students are enrolling in English Language Acquisition classes, and only 77 of 1,150 students who exited these classes perform poorly in follow-up English-only courses, a Denver Public Schools report released this month shows. DPS Board of Education members will meet today in a special closed session to discuss the status of the ELA program in Denver schools. Under a 1984 federal court order, DPS is required to provide English-language courses to students who qualify based on an oral assessment test. According to the Jan. 4 report, the district's ELA program continues to evolve despite a deep budget shortfall last year. In 2001, only 84 percent of high schoolers eligible to take ELA were enrolled. That number improved last school year to 97 percent. During the 2003-04 school year, the district checked on 34 schools and found 20 implementing the ELA program correctly; 14 schools were placed on an improvement plan. BOULDER World's drought areas doubled, scientists say The area of Earth stricken by serious drought doubled between the 1970s and early 2000s, according to Boulder scientists. In those three decades, much of Europe, Asia, Canada, Africa and Australia dried out, said Aiguo Dai of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Rising global temperatures appear to be a major cause, he was expected to report Wednesday at an American Meteorological Society meeting. In the early 1970s, about 10 percent to 15 percent of the world's land was in "serious drought," according to Dai and his colleagues; that figure was about 30 percent in 2002. |