Barry Gutierrez © News Kathryn Lovell, 18, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about how she was wrongly identified as the woman who accused NBA star Kobe Bryant of rape. Lovell supports a pair of bills aimed at providing more privacy protection to sexual assault victims.

Woman wrongly named in Bryant case backs proposals

By John J. Sanko, Rocky Mountain News
January 29, 2004

A teenage girl who was falsely identified as the woman who accused NBA star Kobe Bryant of rape told lawmakers Wednesday her life was made miserable after the erroneous news became public.

"People found my home address, my phone number and other personal facts," Kathryn Lovell, 18, of Eagle, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "My name was spread all over.

Advertisement

"We had reporters showing up at my doorstep, at my work, where I hang out with my friends. I also received very rude messages on my cell phone from supporters of Kobe Bryant."

The teenager, along with two other women who were rape victims, testified in favor of a pair of bills aimed at providing more privacy protection to sexual assault victims. Because of the absence of one committee member, Sen. John Evans, R-Parker, neither bill was voted on by the committee.

The sponsors of both measures, Sens. Peter Groff, a Denver Democrat, and Bruce Cairns, an Aurora Republican, said they planned to amend their proposals before a final vote. Groff, a lawyer, said he would rewrite his SB 46 simply to put into statute a section of the Colorado Judicial Rules of Criminal Procedure that allows courts to impose a protective order for the names of any criminal victims.

Cairns said he also would offer amendments to his SB 60, which is more extensive than Groff's.

Cairns said his bill still would include a provision allowing sexual assault victims to sue those who release their names. They could recover actual damages, collect a $5,000 civil penalty and get attorney fees.

Opposition came from the Colorado Press Association.

But the most compelling testimony came from Lovell and the two rape victims.

Lovell said she could only imagine what the woman actually involved in the Kobe Bryant case has gone through. She attended the same high school as the young woman.

Lisa Simpson testified to the horror she said she experienced after being involved in a rape case at a highly publicized off-campus party involving University of Colorado football recruits on Dec. 7, 2001.

She said she was shocked when she saw her name in a newspaper.

"It was like being raped all over again," she said. "They did not ask me if I wanted to share my identity with the world. They gave me no choice. They took something away from me I was not ready to give."

Kathy Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, said she was raped in 1991 by a college football player during her first week as a college freshman.

She said people who called her home, playing the school fight song, making personal threats, letting her know she and her family were being constantly watched "did more damage to me than the actual rape."

In Colorado, rape and sexual assault reports increased each of the past four years, with nearly 2,000 people reporting attacks last year, Groff said. "But the most disturbing number to me is the fact that only 16 percent of women (according to one study) report their attacks," he said.

Copyright 2004, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.