Chris Schneider © News/2004 Kobe Bryant leaves the Eagle County Justice Center in Eagle after pretrial hearings in May in his sexual assault case. His trial is scheduled to start on Aug. 27.

Woman to meet with Bryant prosecutors as she rethinks case

By Peggy Lowe, Rocky Mountain News
August 5, 2004

The woman who has accused Kobe Bryant of rape is reconsidering whether she will cooperate with prosecutors seeking criminal charges against the basketball star but may seek the "level playing field" a civil suit would offer, her attorneys told a national television audience Wednesday.

But as the public relations battle heated up outside the courtroom, Eagle County Judge Terry Ruckriegle issued another stern reminder to "all participants" that he has placed a gag order on the case and they are prohibited from talking to the media. Ruckriegle's order, posted Wednesday evening, was done at the request of Bryant's attorneys.

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Ruckriegle said he viewed the TV reports and "is seriously concerned that the continued public comment of participants in this case will disrupt the process by which a fair trial may be preserved."

Reacting to the public airing of many damaging details of her sex life - and with the trial just three weeks away - the 20-year-old woman is wondering "whether she can be treated fairly in the criminal justice system," L. Lin Wood, an Atlanta attorney who caters to high-profile clients, said on ABC's Good Morning America.

"She's obviously got to rethink what she's going to do," Wood said. "This young girl for over a year has stood up with resolve and with courage, despite the fact that her reputation has been smeared, her privacy has been invaded."

The comments by Wood and the woman's Colorado attorney, John Clune, resulted in a deluge of calls to the Eagle County District Attorney's Office, which remained steadfast in its commitment to the case.

Krista Flannigan, the DA's spokeswoman, said the media were getting it wrong.

"That's not at all accurate," Flannigan said of reports that the alleged victim wanted to drop out of the case. "I've spoken with her attorney and that's not what he said. He said, 'We're still moving forward.' "

Wood said the woman would be talking to prosecutors in the next few days about her plans. Clune and Wood didn't return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

But defense attorneys said the alleged victim's lawyers are hinting that they see the prosecution's case as weak and chances of winning it low.

"I think they are looking for a graceful exit from the criminal case," said Jeralyn Merritt, a Denver attorney. "They're not going to admit she was lying or that she wasn't sexually assaulted. They want to put their best face forward."

If the woman refuses to cooperate at Bryant's trial, the DA's office could legally proceed without her, but realistically, it wouldn't have a case, said Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor.

Still, others said the alleged victim's attorneys could be forgiven for doing a little public relations work for their client, given the extraordinary amount of bad publicity she has received in the last few weeks, thanks mostly to mistakes made by the court.

Last week, transcripts of a hearing that were erroneously sent to the media revealed that the woman has received nearly $20,000 in help from a victims compensation fund, partly for mental health therapy. Bryant attorney Pamela Mackey's remark that the woman had financial incentive to make her "false allegation" of rape, was widely reported.

That same week, the court mistakenly posted online a document with the woman's last name, the second time her identity has been posted on the court's public Web site.

Then this week, an expert witness paid to shore up the Bryant legal team's allegation that the woman had sex with "three men in three days" was the subject of yet another release of previously sealed documents by the court.

The witness, Elizabeth Johnson, said the DNA of a "Mr. X" was found in the woman's underwear at her rape exam, but Bryant's was not, suggesting that the woman had sex with another man after Bryant but before her hospital exam.

Faced with Ruckriegle's gag order, prosecutors didn't say anything, but followed Tuesday with a court filing about one of their witnesses, Canadian DNA expert Rick Jobin, who will testify that the DNA found in the woman's underpants could have been left there weeks or months ago, and certainly not just in the 15 hours between the woman's encounter with Bryant and her rape exam.

"I wouldn't read too much" into remarks the accuser's lawyers made on TV Wednesday, said Lisa Simon, a litigation communications specialist in Denver who has worked for clients connected with the Columbine High tragedy and the University of Colorado recruiting scandal.

"I think that what some may deem a public relations strategy is simply a tipping point the victim's legal team has reached," Simon said. "Generally speaking, lawyers are not allowed to make prejudicial statements. However, they are equally clearly obligated to defend their client against negative publicity."

Many case watchers have predicted the woman would file a civil suit after she hired Wood. He has filed defamation suits against the media for such clients as John and Patsy Ramsey, accused bomber Richard Jewell, and Gary Condit, the disgraced California politician whose former girlfriend was found dead. Wood's Web site leads with a large close-up photo of him and a quote by CBS's Dan Rather: "Attorney for the damned."

On Wednesday, Wood told Good Morning America that the civil system could bring fairness to his client's case by allowing an equal amount of airing of Bryant's sexual history and whether he has a pattern of assaulting women.

lowep@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5482

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