The Denver Post
Judge rules for privacy
Friday, January 30, 2004 -
The judge in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case ruled Thursday that discussion of the basketball star's statements to investigators must be heard behind closed doors in pretrial hearings, out of the public realm where they might taint potential jurors.
Chief District Court Judge Terry Ruckriegle determined there is "substantial probability" that release of the statements - which the defense argues were obtained illegally - could harm Bryant's right to a fair trial. "Public disclosure of the statements prior to a ruling as to the relevance and admissibility of such statements would be prejudicial," Ruckriegle wrote. "It is also undisputed that this case is the subject of extensive public and media scrutiny, and that any statements attributed to the defendant will be subject to broad dissemination and comment." But Ruckriegle determined that how the interview occurred - but not its contents - should be aired in open court and refused to close that part of the proceedings, which are likely to occur during a two-day pretrial hearing beginning Monday. "The testimony and evidence pertaining to the conduct of law enforcement in obtaining (the) defendant's statement ... is properly the subject of a public hearing and does not prejudice (Bryant's) right to a fair trial," he ruled. The Los Angeles Lakers guard is accused of sexual assault in a June 30 encounter with a 19-year-old front-desk clerk at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards. Bryant was staying at the lodge while in the area for minor knee surgery. Attorneys for a consortium of media outlets, including The Denver Post, had argued the hearings should remain open, in particular discussions about how investigators from the Eagle County Sheriff's Department presented themselves and conducted the interview with Bryant. Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon have disputed the admissibility of the recorded statements. They say officers overstepped their bounds by giving Bryant the impression that he was in custody and interrogating him at night, all without disclosing that they had an arrest warrant. Ruckriegle determined the hearing will go behind closed doors when discussing anything that happened between the time Bryant was first contacted by the sheriff's deputies until the time he was transported to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, where he submitted to a sexual-assault exam. Bryant's statements "include information which is personal, highly sensitive, clearly irrelevant to the case or subject to challenge as to relevance and/or admissibility, and the subject of a constitutional challenge which may result in suppression," Ruckriegle wrote. Although Christopher Beall, an attorney for the media consortium, had argued potential jurors could be screened more vigorously through extended questioning and the passage of time would fog their memories of Bryant's statements, the judge disagreed. In another ruling, Ruckriegle signed off on an agreement among the media, the prosecution and the defense to protect the identities of three undercover officers who are expected to testify in the suppression hearing. The officers will come in through a side door and will testify behind a screen. The courtroom artist will be precluded from depicting them. |