The Denver Post
Early trial date fine for Bryant, accuser
Wednesday, April 07, 2004 -
Kobe Bryant's defense lawyers said Tuesday that the NBA star is eager to proceed with his sexual- assault case and has no problem entering a plea or having a trial date set as requested by prosecutors and his alleged victim.
Bryant's lawyer, Hal Haddon, said Bryant will plead not guilty to the allegation when District Judge Terry Ruckriegle decides on an appropriate date. "Kobe Bryant has always wanted an early trial date that would accommodate the court's docket and scheduling requirements," Haddon wrote in court papers. Once Bryant enters a plea, the trial would have to be held within six months, unless Bryant later waives his right to a speedy trial. "The accuser's false allegation of rape has exacted a personal and professional toll on Mr. Bryant that is incalculable as it is indescribable," Haddon said. "No one looks forward to this case being over more than Mr. Bryant." Haddon said Bryant hasn't entered a plea because he has followed the procedure that Ruck- riegle has requested. In big cases, the judge prefers to hold motions hearings before the formal arraignment, where Bryant would enter his plea. The woman's lawyer, John Clune, filed a motion March 25 in which he said his client has suffered extreme consequences for reporting the alleged sexual assault at the Edwards hotel where the woman worked. She was forced to quit school, can't live at home, can't talk to her friends and has received hundreds of phone calls and e-mails threatening death or mutilation, Clune wrote.
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Clune told Ruckriegle that because of that, the trial date should be set promptly. A week later, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert asked Ruckriegle to direct Bryant to enter a plea, saying the "emotional and mental toll" on the accuser had become devastating. Two lawyers, former Denver District Attorney Norm Early and David Lugert, who helped draft the state's Victims Rights Act as an assistant Colorado attorney general, said that Ruckriegle's practice may have slowed the process. Early said that setting a trial date could have increased the pace of the proceedings. "As a practical matter, it puts pressure on the parties to get the case moving forward instead of sideways," he said. Lugert said Ruckriegle policy of holding hearings before taking a plea is unusual in Colorado. "Ruckriegle's philosophy is that he won't trigger the six-month period until the plea is entered, and that way he has no problem. The difficulty is it fails to take into account that the case is getting older and staler, and there is all this extraordinarily negative pressure on the victim," Lugert said. District Judge Tom Moorhead, who works with Ruckriegle, said setting the arraignment after the motions hearing allows the judge to keep the court calendar un- cluttered. It also gives time for both sides to weigh their options, including a possible plea agreement. Also in the motion, Haddon said Clune and the accuser's mother overstated the affect of the case to create sympathy. But Karen Steinhauser, a former Denver prosecutor and now a university law professor, said the 19-year-old's life has been deeply affected - with her picture appearing on the front of tabloids and people being arrested for making threats against her. In recent weeks, the defense and prosecution have blamed each other for delays. Hurlbert says prosecutors weren't the reason for delays because most evidence has been available to the defense for months. But Haddon disagreed, saying prosecutors hadn't turned over evidence as ordered and had fought to keep defense representatives from attending critical DNA testing. Hurlbert, however, maintains that although prosecutors originally objected to the defense being present, after negotiating with the CBI and other labs, they agreed to allow the defense to be present for all testing. |