Opening statements could be on Sept. 7 after jury selection

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
June 26, 2004

With little fanfare, it was announced Friday that Kobe Bryant's long-awaited sexual assault trial will begin Aug. 27.

But that is merely the date when hundreds of Eagle County residents will arrive to fill out a lengthy questionnaire to determine whether they are qualified to serve on the jury.

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Colorado Judicial Branch spokeswoman Karen Salaz said Friday it is hoped that opening statements will take place Sept. 7, the first work day after the three-day Labor Day weekend.

Attorneys in the case have estimated the trial should last three to four weeks, including the time needed for jury selection.

The Aug. 27 date was disclosed Friday in an order issued by Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle.

Salaz expects the date to hold firm.

"I do not think it will change," said Salaz.

"The judge made it very clear from the beginning, that once he sets a date he expects to keep that date," she said.

Salaz said that 1,000 summons soon will be mailed to people picked at random from the rolls of Eagle County taxpayers, registered voters and licensed drivers.

How many of those 1,000 people will show up at the Eagle County Justice Center on Aug. 27, she said, is hard to guess.

"It's just a crapshoot for us, which is very frustrating," she said. "We'll hope for 60 to 70 percent."

There has been virtually no discussion in court throughout Bryant's pretrial hearings about the possibility of a change of venue.

And it's clear now that Ruckriegle intends to seat a jury of 12, plus several alternates, in Eagle County where Bryant's 20-year-old alleged victim lived at the time of the incident.

"I'd be surprised, at this point," if a venue change should prove necessary, Salaz said.

The mere setting of a trial date is a major benchmark in a case that has been closely watched since the news broke July 4 that Bryant, a charismatic 25-year-old star of the Los Angeles Lakers and six-time NBA All Star, had been arrested for sexual assault with the use of force.

He is alleged to have raped a hotel concierge, then 19 years old, in room 35 at the upscale Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, late the night of June 30.

The young woman went home that night without alerting authorities, and only did so the next day after telling her parents what had happened.

Bryant was confronted by Eagle County Sheriff's Detectives Doug Winters and Dan Loya in the Cordillera parking lot just after midnight on July 2. Bryant had been staying there while undergoing surgery on his right knee at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail.

Eagle Country District Attorney Mark Hurlbert announced the charge against Bryant the afternoon of July 18.

Three hours later, Bryant, with his wife Vanessa at his side, told a packed Los Angeles press conference that he had committed adultery with the woman, but that their contact was consensual.

Bryant made his first court appearance in the case Aug. 6, saying only "No, sir," when he was asked whether he objected to his lawyers waiving his right for a preliminary hearing within 30 days.

He didn't speak again in court until May 11, when he finally was arraigned and entered his not guilty plea.

If Bryant is convicted of the class-three felony with which he is charged, he could serve a sentence of four years to life, or be sentenced to a term of supervised probation lasting 20 years to life.

The alleged victim did not return this past year to the University of Northern Colorado, and according to a letter to the judge from her mother, has lived in four different states in a six-month period in a futile bid for privacy.

Three men have been arrested for threatening her life, and she has seen her name and pictures featured prominently in a supermarket weekly.

Former Denver District Attorney Norm Early said Friday the announcement of a date will be welcome news for everyone involved.

"In terms of moving the case along, it's extremely significant," Early said.

"Kobe Bryant has already entered a plea of not guilty, and he is entitled to a trial within six months of that date.

"Setting the date of Aug. 27, even if it's aborted later, gives a target for which everyone can shoot," the former prosecutor said.

Early said that when all lawyers involved told Ruckriegle they would be available for the trial in late August, he had to seize the opportunity.

"To find any three- to four- week period in which seven or eight lawyers will be available is extremely unusual, and is a situation on which you need to capitalize," Early said.

The only hurdle that might set the trial date back, Early said, is if the prosecution were to lose on some pending evidentiary issues on which Ruckriegle must still rule, and choose to immediately appeal those rulings.

Timetable

Key dates in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case:

• Sept. 7: Colorado Judicial Branch spokeswoman Karen Salaz said it is hoped opening statements will take place on this day in Bryant's trial.

• Aug. 27: Jury selection is scheduled to begin in Eagle County.

• May 11, 2004: Bryant is arraigned and enters a not guilty plea.

• July 18: Eagle District Attorney Mark Hurlbert announces Bryant will be charged for sexual assault.

• July 4: Bryant arrested for sexual assault with the use of force.

• June 30, 2003: Bryant is alleged to have raped a hotel concierge at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards.

brennanc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2742

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