The Denver Post
Friend: Bryant accuser spoke early of civil suit
Saturday, November 06, 2004 -
A month after a woman accused Kobe Bryant of rape, she told a friend she was considering suing the NBA star in civil court and wanted to buy breast augmentation surgery and a koala bear with any award money, according to court documents released Friday.
The details came in testimony from Sean Holloway, who knew the then-19-year-old woman from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. During a closed hearing March 2, defense attorney Hal Haddon asked Holloway about a conversation he had with the woman near the end of July 2003, about a month after the alleged assault. The hearing was to determine whether information about the woman's sexual activities could be used in court against her. Haddon asked whether the woman had mentioned the possibility of a civil lawsuit. "She said that after the case was over it was something that she was most likely going to do," Holloway said. He testified the woman, an aspiring singer, wanted to use any award money to open a recording studio and to pay for breast augmentation surgery for herself and a friend. He also said she would buy a koala for another friend who liked the animals. Under questioning by prosecutor Dana Easter, Holloway acknowledged he had trouble remembering details of the conversation. He refused to answer whether drug use might have affected his memory. One of the woman's attorneys, L. Lin Wood, dismissed Holloway's testimony. "Anyone that knows this young girl, and knows what she has done and why she has done it over the last year and half, and what's she's been through, will know that Mr. Holloway's story does not reflect the truth," he said. According to a story posted Friday on the Los Angeles Times' website, a key moment in the accuser's decision not to testify came a week before the case was dropped, when she performed poorly in a mock trial staged by prosecutors. The woman, now 20, has filed a civil suit against Bryant for what she says have been months of pain and suffering since the alleged assault. |