The Denver Post
Schedule set in Bryant suit
Thursday, November 18, 2004 -
Both sides in the civil lawsuit by a young woman who claims she was raped by basketball star Kobe Bryant met in federal court Wednesday to hash out a rough schedule.
Attorney L. Lin Wood, of Atlanta, who represents the 20-year-old accuser, said he would depose, or interview under oath, Bryant early next month and that the accuser would be deposed Feb. 1. He guessed that the case could go to trial within a year. "Judge (Richard) Matsch likes to move things along," Wood said after the scheduling hearing before the senior U.S. District judge, who also presided over the 1997 Oklahoma City bombing trial. "We'll probably set a trial date at the next hearing in a couple of months." The woman, who was not present Wednesday, claims Bryant raped her in June 2003 in his room at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, where she worked. A criminal trial fell apart when the woman said she didn't want to testify against Bryant. Three weeks before she backed out of the criminal trial, her attorneys filed the civil suit seeking unspecified damages for pain, ridicule and scorn. Wood said he would file another civil lawsuit against Bryant in California. "In all probability, it will be filed in mid-December," he said. Wood said U.S. Supreme Court decisions allow him to file civil suits simultaneously in federal and state courts. He will file the second suit in California because Bryant lives there and because Colorado limits the monetary damages in such suits to roughly $733,000, which will be the limit in federal court here. California has no limits.
Click here for an interactive presentation on Bryant's career.
Click here for a
timeline of the dismissed People v. Bryant criminal case.
Click here for
the state-court website with official court orders, filings and documents in the dismissed criminal case
against Bryant.
Wood refused to say whether the sides are negotiating a settlement. "I wouldn't tell you if we are, and I wouldn't tell you if we're not," he said. Matsch asked if Bryant faces Fifth Amendment issues in which he could incriminate himself. Defense attorney Pamela Mackey said his criminal case was dismissed with the understanding that he couldn't be charged again. Wood agreed to tally the specific damages suffered by the woman, such as physical injuries and economic damages, and give them to the defense within 30 days. Matsch said it wasn't necessary to include emotional damages or future losses. |