They say it prevents them from responding to 'lies'

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
August 13, 2004

A recent news report that Kobe Bryant's alleged sexual assault victim discussed with a girlfriend a plan to sleep with the recording star Eminem has been cited by her lawyer as an example of why the trial judge's recent gag order is unfair.

Attorneys John Clune and Lin Wood, in a document made available Thursday, cited a Wednesday report in the New York Post quoting defense witness Laie Weatherwax as saying the 20-year-old Eagle woman set her sights on the well-known rapper long before her June 30, 2003, encounter with the Los Angeles Lakers star at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera.

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Weatherwax told the New York paper that in December 2002 Bryant's alleged victim learned Eminem would soon be at a Vail hotel and discussed with her a scheme to meet him.

"She called a friend at his hotel, found out what room he was in and where he'd sing," Weatherwax said. "There was a plan to seduce him to his room, the pool or the hot tub, to be in position to score one."

Weatherwax told the newspaper that Bryant's alleged victim talked about the plan while the two were freshmen at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, but that it was never acted upon.

Bryant's alleged victim wanted Weatherwax to drive her to Vail, Weatherwax said, "but I said no. To me, it seemed out of whack to drive six hours to get with a guy who has women falling all over him. But she really wanted to go."

Clune and Wood pointed to the story as an example of the "rumors, exaggerations and lies best described as 'garbage' " that they are prevented from responding to due to a strict gag order issued by Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle on Aug. 4.

As long as the gag order is allowed to stand, said the young woman's lawyers, "the terrible damage to the victim's right to a fair trial, to the victim's right to due process of law, to the victim's right to speak and reply, and to the victim's reputation, increases and becomes irreparable."

Bryant is due for his final pretrial hearing in Eagle County District Court on Monday, and his trial for sexual assault is currently set to begin with jury selection Aug. 27, although the prosecution asked this week for an indefinite delay. That request has yet to be addressed by Ruckriegle.

Also Thursday, prosecutors asked Ruckriegle to loosen a restriction he placed on the size of the team they're allowed to have in the magistrate's room during the questioning of potential jurors.

Ruckriegle ruled last month that prosecutors would be limited to two attorneys in the room.

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