Denver Post
Judge halts Bryant hearing
Move comes after NBA star's defense raises issue of accuser's sexual history
Thursday, October 09, 2003 - EAGLE - An Eagle County judge broke off the preliminary hearing for basketball star Kobe Bryant on Thursday evening after defense attorneys implied that injuries to the woman accusing Bryant of rape may have been the result of sleeping around with "three men in three days."
The defense's inference came after a detective testifying for the prosecution recounted the prosecution's case, saying that the young woman told him she and Bryant were flirting and then kissing before their encounter turned violent and degrading. Amid cross-examination of Eagle County Sheriff's Detective Doug Winters, a defense attorney raised the issue of the origins of the woman's injuries. That prompted County Judge Frederick Gannett to stop the hearing and call the lawyers into his chambers. After several lengthy and reportedly heated meetings with the attorneys over what evidence would be admissible for determining whether Bryant should stand trial, a visibly tired Gannett adjourned the hearing about 6:30 p.m., saying it will resume Wednesday. "There are issues," Gannett explained to a courtroom overflowing with reporters and members of the public eager to catch a glimpse of the stoic Los Angeles Lakers guard. "Things did not progress as expected." One of the issues, Gannett said, was a new motion from the prosecution to close the remainder of the hearing to the public, mirroring one previously filed by the defense that initially had been opposed by District Attorney Mark Hurlbert. Tom Kelley, an attorney representing the media including The Denver Post, said that it was an "interesting flip-flop" and that the judge was being asked, in essence, to let the prosecution present its case publicly and then require the defense to issue a rebuttal behind closed doors. Bryant, 25, is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old employee of the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards on June 30 and could face four years to life in prison if convicted. According to Detective Winters, the accuser, an Eagle woman, claimed that Bryant raped her when she went to his room, grabbing her by her neck with both hands, forcing her to lean over a chair and then pulling up her dress and taking off her panties. Later in the day, however, the defense grilled Winters about the woman's injuries, suggesting they were not evidence of a forced rape. "Did (the nurse) also tell you it was consistent with someone who had had sex with three different men in three days?" asked defense attorney Pamela Mackey, spurring an immediate objection from the prosecution, the conference in the judge's chambers and, ultimately, the hearing's end. The move elicited murmurs in the courtroom from legal analysts, who noted that Colorado's rape-shield law generally prohibits the introduction of an accuser's past sexual history unless it points to possible alternate sources of her injuries. "This was a real attempt to smear the victim," former Denver DA Norm Early said. "It had nothing to do with this case." But former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman said that if true - and the woman's attorneys denied the inference in Mackey's question - it could prove compelling evidence to a jury that perhaps the liaison was consensual, as Bryant has claimed. "It's obvious why they wanted the preliminary hearing now. There was some dirt out there (on Bryant), and they needed to shoot it down," Silverman said. "Last week, we heard about (the prosecution's) strangulation expert. This week, we read a Newsweek cover story that we now know is full of baloney - it had her being attacked as soon as she entered the room, which not even the prosecution is saying - and the case was getting away from them in the court of public opinion." For weeks, legal analysts believed that Bryant's defense team would waive the preliminary hearing because testimony devastating to Bryant might be revealed and taint the jury pool. But the prosecution instead got a chance to recount, through Winters, its version of what happened in Room 35 of the upscale hotel where Bryant was staying while in Eagle Valley for minor knee surgery. Winters testified that the woman initially was excited that Bryant was staying at the hotel where she worked, eagerly showing him around the premises on a private tour, flirting with him and eventually exchanging kisses with him for five minutes. The woman told investigators that during the five minutes that she was sexually penetrated, Bryant never let go of her of her neck, moaned and told her "he liked Vail, Colorado," Winters testified. The woman told Winters that she cried throughout the rape and was forced to kiss Bryant's penis after the rape had concluded. Authorities seized clothing worn by Bryant and the woman that night, and a laboratory analysis by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation discovered streaks of her blood on the inside front of his shirt and on her panties, Winter said. Winters also introduced photographs from her physical examination that purported to show a small bruise on her jaw line and vaginal tearing. Gannett also disclosed that in one 90-minute conference, he had listened to statements made by Bryant that authorities surreptitiously recorded while taking him to Glenwood Springs for a medical exam. Gannett said he kept that part of the case closed to the public. In her cross-examination of Winters, Mackey repeatedly mentioned the accuser by name despite the judge's admonishments to keep her identity cloaked. At one point Mackey apologized for the lapse, saying she would write herself a note not to say the name. "Or I could get you a big muzzle," Gannett responded, eliciting laughter from everyone in the courtroom but Bryant and his defense team. Mackey aggressively questioned the detective about the lack of physical injuries on the woman's neck. "There was not a red mark? Not a scratch? Not a bruise? Not a finger mark? Nothing?" she asked during one exchange, each time eliciting a response of "That's correct" from Winters. Bryant, dressed in a dark-blue suit and a gold casual shirt buttoned to the throat, sat quietly between Mackey and co-counsel Hal Haddon, his hands usually clasped on the table in front of him. The evening of the incident started out innocently enough, Winters had testified earlier under questioning from prosecutor Gregg Crittenden. The woman, a 2002 Eagle Valley High School graduate who attended University of Northern Colorado last year, told Winters that she took the reservation for Bryant and his entourage and knew who the five-time NBA all-star was. She said that she showed Bryant to his room and that he pulled her away from two men she assumed to be his bodyguards to ask her quietly to return to his room so she could give him a private tour of the premises. She agreed, according to Winters. And a few minutes later, she returned and gave Bryant a tour, during which she said "mutual flirting" took place - Bryant complimenting her on her clothes and her height. He also asked her if she had a boyfriend. On the tour, they encountered the hotel bellman and spent five minutes with him on a hotel balcony, where they made small talk, including why Bryant was in the area, Winters said. Bryant then said he needed to go back to his room, and the young woman followed. Once in the room, the woman said she sat on the couch, where the topic of tattoos came up. At Bryant's urging, she showed him a tattoo on her ankle, Winters said, and, according to one account the detective offered, revealed a second one on her back by lifting up her one-piece black dress. Winters said the woman told him that Bryant then asked her if she wanted to get into a hot tub with him. She said no because her shift was almost over and she needed to go home. She asked for his autograph, but he declined, saying he'd give her one later if she'd come back. As she was about to leave, Winters testified she said, Bryant asked her for a hug and she agreed to give him one. "She said he began kissing her mouth and neck, which she agreed to. She said she was fine with that," Winters testified. "She was excited that he was showing interest in her and agreed to the hugging and kissing."
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The kissing and hugging went on for about five minutes when the woman said that Bryant began to grope her, fondling her breasts and buttocks and then putting his hand under her skirt and groping her vaginal area.
People v. Bryant
"She didn't want to do that," Winters testified. "She did tell him she needed to leave and she was trying to leave when he grabbed her by the neck" with both hands.
Winters said the woman thought Bryant was going to choke her as he turned her around, pushed her toward a chair, pulled her dress up and pulled her panties down. Winters said the woman was telling Bryant "no" as the situation deteriorated.
"During the sexual intercourse, he leaned down toward her face and she heard a groaning noise coming from him," Winters said. "She stated that she cried during the entire time" of the alleged rape.
The accuser said Bryant repeatedly asked her if she was going to tell anyone. Fearing that he might hurt her even more, she said "no," Winters testified.
"She didn't want him to hurt her more than he had. He still had ahold of her neck," the detective said.
She said that the rape had been physically painful and that she was bleeding.
Winters said that a physical exam by a doctor and two nurses who specialize in rape cases showed the woman suffered numerous lacerations to her vagina that were inconsistent with consensual sex.
She also told one of the nurses that after raping her, Bryant forced her to kiss his penis.
The nurse relayed the information about that kiss to Winters, who asked the accuser if that occurred.
"She told me that right after the sexual intercourse, he wanted her to kiss his penis before she left," Winters testified. "She said no. She said he grabbed her and placed her head at waist level and he made her kiss it.
"She said she had no intention of having sexual intercourse with him," the detective testified.
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As she left, Bryant again asked her if she would tell anyone, Winters said.
"She said that she wouldn't so she could leave. She did indicate she was fearful," Winters said.
The woman returned to the front desk, then closed the desk for the evening. At that point, Winters said, the bellman noticed she was upset. She told him what had happened, and he followed her home to make sure she arrived safely.
The next day, Winters met with the accuser and her mother and father at the family home, where he interviewed her briefly. They then went to the sheriff's department, where the accuser gave a videotaped statement.