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The Denver Post
Defense to query Bryant's accuser
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 -
Tensions in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case likely will rise to an all-time high today, as the 19-year-old accuser is expected to take the stand in a closed-door hearing about her other sexual encounters.
The hearing in Eagle District Court will mark the first time she will be in the same room as the Los Angeles Lakers star since their June 30 encounter at an upscale lodge near Edwards, and the first time defense attorneys have a chance to size her up. "There is no doubt that it is going to be a long, lengthy, potentially brutal examination (of the alleged victim)," said Dave Lugert, a former prosecutor from Eagle. At stake is whether details of the woman's other sexual encounters will be considered relevant and admissible in trial. Bryant's defense attorneys want to show that her injuries could have resulted from sexual encounters in the 72 hours before the incident at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, or, perhaps, from another man in the 15 hours immediately afterward. "The case will hang in the balance," former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman said. "If the defense gets everything they want, then it will be the equivalent of a knockout punch." But defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon - who allege that swabs taken from the woman's body during a rape examination the next day reveal semen from another man - must overcome the state's rape-shield law, which presumes that a woman's sexual history is irrelevant to a sexual-assault case. "I believe they'll be able to ask very detailed questions about who she was with, what kind of sexual acts were committed, the degree of force used in the sexual acts, the degree of aggressiveness - very detailed things," Denver defense attorney Dan Recht said. Prosecutors unsuccessfully petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent the hearing, and now must argue that her sexual history has no bearing on what happened. In the meantime, they likely have prepared the woman for the worst kind of invasive questions, said Karen Steinhauser, a law professor at the University of Denver. "The worst part for her," Steinhauser said, "is that she is going to have to be talking about things that, for any of the rest of us, are so personal and so intimate that we are not going to be talking about any of them, let alone (to) strangers. And that is what she is being asked to do." As of a couple of weeks ago, the woman's attorney, John Clune, had not determined how she should enter the courthouse and approach the throng of media gathered in the hallway, and he could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Said Lugert: "There is a potential benefit to the prosecution to begin to lay out its cards by saying: 'Here she is. She is not afraid of anything. She is walking right up to the front door with her mom and dad holding hands. She is walking right in. She has her head held high."' By law, the rape-shield hearing must be held behind closed doors, and Judge Terry Ruckriegle last week once again reminded participants to refrain from discussing the case, so the public can expect to glean little. "From other cases I've been involved in, when the victim and her perpetrator are together, especially for the first time, it can be tense. It can be uncomfortable and sometimes frightening for the victim," said Krista Flannigan, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. The Los Angeles Daily News is reporting Bryant will use a private jet to fly back to Los Angeles after today's hearing to try to play in a game against Sacramento at the Staples Center. Then will fly back for Thursday's proceedings. The Lakers play again Friday night in Los Angeles against Minnesota. |