The Denver Post
Judge allows for May pre-trial hearings in Bryant case
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 -
The judge in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case tentatively has scheduled additional pre-trial hearings in May, according to documents released Tuesday.
District Judge Terry Ruckriegle has set aside May 10-14 for possible hearings, all but ensuring Bryant won't have a trial before the NBA Finals in June. "I think the motive is other than being good-hearted about his career," Denver defense attorney Dan Recht said. "Maybe they have some sense of working with the other attorneys and the judge, and this is the timetable that's been set. "I suppose if Kobe Bryant is lucky, he'll be able to have the trial squeezed between seasons." The latest court dates were revealed Tuesday in a "register of actions," the list of all the documents in the case, including those previously kept secret. Among revelations gleaned from the register was an indication that the Los Angeles Lakers guard's attorneys fought submitting him to a standard HIV test that Colorado law requires of any person ordered to stand trial on sexual-assault charges. "It's fair to say it's unusual to fight about that," Recht said. "Presumably there was cause to fight." The law spells out the test results are available to a victim of sexual assault, but they likely wouldn't be admitted into court, said Recht, a past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar. Ultimately, Ruckriegle ordered Bryant to submit to the test, and the judge received the results, according to the documents. Attorneys for several media organizations, including The Denver Post, successfully argued in court that the register - if not the actual documents - needed to be made public as a window into the propriety of the proceedings. "It's impossible to tell what's going on in the case when there is ... so much that is filed under seal. And the public has no way of knowing, other than somebody leaking it, what the parties are asking the court to do," said Christopher Beall, one of the media attorneys. The fact Ruckriegle has dates in mind for additional pre-trial hearings indicates neither side is in too much of a hurry, said Jim Fahrenholtz, a defense attorney in Eagle. "They might not have the trial until next year," he said. "My guess is the judge will probably give them at least ... three months after the motions for a trial, because they need to digest what he's done." The NBA Finals will end by June 20, and the next season begins at the end of October. Also Tuesday, prosecutors filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court of a ruling by Ruckriegle that would allow unlimited questioning of the accuser during a closed-door "rape-shield" hearing. |