The Denver Post
Detectives who interviewed Bryant testify at hearing
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - EAGLE — The final day of a three-day hearing in the Kobe Bryant case began Eagle County sheriff’s investigators Dan Loya and Doug Winters testified as the three-day hearing wound down. Bryant is expected to leave Colorado in time to play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff game The defense says the sheriff’s investigators improperly questioned Bryant and botched the execution of a court order to gather evidence last July. They want District Judge Terry Ruckriegle to toss out Bryant’s secretly recorded statements, a T-shirt stained with the woman’s blood and a rape kit performed on Bryant at a Glenwood Springs hospital.
Prosecutors have said Bryant spoke voluntarily, knew he was free to leave and willingly handed over evidence.
Bryant, 25, is accused of raping a 19-year-old employee at a Vail-area resort last June. The Los Angeles Lakers star has said the two had consensual sex. The defense has argued that Bryant was essentially in custody when he was questioned by the two detectives. Defense attorney Hal Haddon has also said Colorado court rules call for hair, fibers and other “non-testimonial evidence” to be obtained during daylight hours. Bryant’s hospital exam was performed before dawn July 2.
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Winters has said he didn’t know about the daylight rule. He also admitted a judge had to remind him he needed two separate court orders to gather evidence: one for hair and similar evidence, and another for Bryant’s clothing, including the bloodstained T-shirt.
Loya taped Bryant’s statements with a miniature recorder that was in his shirt pocket.
Bryant has not entered a formal plea. The judge was expected to open the courtroom later The defense says injuries found on the woman could have been caused by sex with multiple partners before and after her encounter with Bryant, and they want to make those arguments to a jury. The prosecution says the woman’s sex life is irrelevant in determining whether she was raped.
The arguments are the issue are not finished. The next batch of witnesses won’t be called until a fresh hearing starts May 10, state courts spokeswoman Karen Salaz.
Ruckriegle has already barred defense access to the woman’s medical records, except from the sexual assault examination.
Experts say witnesses will likely be called to discuss her purported suicide attempts and anti-depressant use.
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