By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
September 4, 2004

EAGLE - Kobe Bryant is accustomed to a supporting cast of four when he goes into battle as a basketball player. But to defend himself against a charge that could have put him in prison for life, he rallied a team of at least 64 people.

One published report estimated Bryant's expenses by late April at $2 million and counting, with the potential to hit $10 million if the case had gone to trial.

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On the other hand, the prosecution team of about 25 incurred costs estimated at $300,000 to $400,000, according to spokeswoman Krista Flannigan.

The tally of 64 people who worked for the Los Angeles Lakers star in some capacity is the product of a yearlong observation of the Bryant team, educated guesses and information available in court records before his rape case in Eagle County was forever shelved on Wednesday.

Denver criminal defense lawyer Craig Skinner, commenting on the size of the Bryant team, said Bryant seemed to have it all - "the butcher, the baker, the Learjet driver."

Robert Shapiro, a veteran of the O.J. Simpson defense team, declined to discuss how Bryant's numbers compare with Simpson's in his notorious double-murder case.

Shapiro said, however, "Prosecutors are fond of saying that they're not going to treat a high-profile case any differently than any other case. But that clearly is a fiction. The resources of the state in prosecuting Mr. Bryant are enormous - much more than any individual could ever have."

The Bryant defense, Shapiro said, could have hoped only to "try to level the playing field. But it can never be leveled successfully because the state has far too many resources."

Air Bryant

One big-ticket item for Bryant was his plane - not a Learjet, on most occasions, but a Gulfstream IV - which, with a pilot, co-pilot, cabin attendant and two ground personnel on either end of his journeys from Van Nuys (Calif.) Airport to the Eagle County Regional Airport, put seven people on Bryant's payroll, directly or indirectly.

When Bryant landed in Eagle County, he'd travel from the small county airport to the Eagle County Justice Center in a convoy of three SUVs manned by four driver-security specialists. That brings the team to 11.

Also typically at the defense table - seated off to one side, actually - was Terrence O'Connor, whose practice is based in Edwards. Occasionally on hand was Boulder lawyer Mark Johnson. This past week, another lawyer from Haddon's firm appeared in court for the first time, appellate specialist Ty Gee.

Those five lawyers bring the total employed by Bryant to 16. But the legal talent on Bryant's payroll probably didn't end there.

Former Denver prosecutor and legal analyst Craig Silverman, who attended most of the pretrial proceedings, believes everyone in the Haddon firm likely had a hand in the Bryant case.

The Martindale-Hubbell legal directory states that the Haddon firm includes 10 attorneys.

But another local attorney familiar with the workings of the Haddon firm, who asked not to be identified, disagreed with Silverman.

"Historically, when you hire Hal Haddon and Pam Mackey, you get Haddon and Mackey, and not 10 other people. They take pride in that," the attorney said. "There aren't going to be a whole lot of additional people working on it."

Split the difference and add two more attorneys in the firm, plus two paralegals. That raises the tally to 20.

The investigators

Attorneys taking a case to trial are nowhere without their own investigators. Based on the court record and sources familiar with the defense operation, at least five investigators have worked on the case for Bryant.

They are David Williams - the Haddon-Mackey firm's full-time investigator - plus Ed Killam, Rivka Morgan-Sherman, Gina Brovege and San Francisco- based investigator David Fechheimer.

But Silverman said it's likely that one or more of those five investigators pulled associates into the fold. Add one more investigator, which puts the team at 26.

Some of the defense experts' names are well known. The lead DNA expert for Bryant was Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, of Thousand Oaks, Calif. She is a former employee of, and still occasionally consults with, Technical Associates Inc., of Ventura, Calif. Testimony made it clear that two other TAI analysts handled DNA evidence for Bryant as well. That puts the team total at 30.

But TAI wasn't the only lab on the Bryant payroll. Haddon, in an Aug. 26 hearing, disclosed that the defense also parceled out some DNA work to Relia- Gene, a Louisiana firm that specializes in detecting male DNA.

Jonathan Tabak, a spokesman for ReliaGene, said seven people there did some amount of work in handling forensic evidence for the Bryant team. That raises the Bryant team to 37.

Another known expert witness for the defense was Richard Sanders, an audio specialist who is on the faculty of the University of Colorado. His expertise also was used in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. Sanders performed the defense analysis of Bryant's recorded statement to detectives. Call him number 38.

Two more known defense expert witnesses are crime-scene investigation specialists Larry Ragle and Beth Seeman. They were expected to attack the adequacy of the Eagle County Sheriff Office's evidence collection in Bryant's Room 35 at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera. Those experts boost the number to 40.

It also was expected that, at minimum, Bryant would have likely retained a medical expert to offer the defense interpretation of the alleged victim's injuries; a rape trauma expert to testify that she showed no signs of it; and perhaps another psychiatrist to analyze, to the best of his or her ability without benefit of a firsthand examination, her mental status.

"They were probably hired to figure out what Kobe Bryant should have figured out before he had sex with her," Silverman said. "Who is this girl and what is she all about?"

Those additional experts raise the Bryant team roster to 43 - and there may be other defense expert witnesses whose identities, specialties or purpose haven't yet come to light.

Jury insight

There would have been no trial without a jury, and in cases of this magnitude, both sides typically use a jury consultant to help produce a panel of 12 people most likely to deliver their desired result.

It hasn't been disclosed who the defense had been planning to use, but trust that it had at least one skilled expert waiting in the wings. That makes 44.

Bryant would have spent the past 14 months in jail if he hadn't posted his $25,000 bond. He paid a bondsman in Glenwood Springs $2,500 to take care of that detail. Forty-five.

Also, very early in the case, it's known that the Bryant team was conducting polls in Eagle County, trying to learn more about the population from which Bryant's jurors would be called.

The polling was conducted for Bryant by Talmey-Drake Research & Strategy Inc., of Boulder. Paul Talmey has declined to discuss his work in the case, but it's unlikely he made all the calls himself.

Pollster Floyd Ciruli, of Denver's Ciruli Associates, said it's realistic to expect that about 18 people were probably involved in that enterprise - 15 people manning the phones, two people entering the data, plus one more person, such as Talmey himself, who likely worked with Bryant's lawyers to compose the questions.

Counting 18 pollsters raises the Bryant roster to 63.

That level of stamina is born of rigorous training, and Bryant pays for his own in the person of Joe Carbone. Carbone was on Bryant's payroll before the case arose, but he obviously faced a whole new set of challenges when his client started flying back and forth between Eagle and wherever the Lakers happened to be at the time. Count Carbone as a team member and the number grows to 64.

The Bryant dream team

Pollsters   18

Forensic experts and technicians   11

Lawyers, paralegals   9

Pilots, flight crew and staff   7

Expert witnesses   6

Investigators   6

Drivers, security   4

Jury consultant   1

Bondsman   1

Personal trainer   1

Total   64*

brennanc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2742

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