DA given more info than he had sought, then passed it along

By Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News
October 15, 2003

EAGLE - An area hospital mistakenly released records relating to the alleged victim in the Kobe Bryant sex assault case, and those records ended up in the hands of Bryant's defense attorneys, an official said Tuesday.

Krista Flannigan, spokeswoman for the Eagle County District Attorney, confirmed that the Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs released more information than was originally requested by her office.

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, in turn, gave the extra information to Bryant's defense team as part of the discovery process of sharing information.

At the time, Flannigan said, Hurlbert's office did not realize the unrequested information had been received and passed on.

The information Hurlbert officially requested related to the rape examination performed on the alleged victim, a 19-year-old woman from Eagle.

Flannigan said she could not discuss the content of the additional information sent by the hospital, where she said the error originated.

"They shouldn't have done that," she said. "They realize that. It was done accidentally."

A hospital official could not be reached for comment after hours Tuesday.

News4 reported the records were from a hospital visit the woman made 30 to 60 days earlier.

The records could pertain to a pill overdose by the alleged victim in May, about a month before the Bryant incident.

Lindsey McKinney, who used to live with the alleged victim, has told the News that she believes the woman took prescription sleeping pills containing an anti-anxiety component. McKinney said that when she learned of the overdose from an ex-boyfriend of the alleged victim, she awoke the woman's parents, at about 1 a.m.

The woman was taken to a Glenwood Springs hospital, McKinney said. The overdose was not a suicide attempt, McKinney believes, but a plea to get attention from the on-again, off-again boyfriend.

Flannigan said the hospital alerted the district attorney to the improper release three weeks ago. The hospital asked that the extra records it sent be returned, and any copies be destroyed.

"We complied immediately," Flannigan said.

Flannigan said the same request was made of the defense, and that the judge is aware of the matter. It was unclear Tuesday night whether the defense had complied.

Bryant's attorney, Pamela Mackey, declined to take a call from the News.

Bryant is accused of one count of sexual assault stemming from a June 30 incident at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards. He says the sex was consensual.

Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett has ruled that if Bryant goes to trial, the trial judge should decide on whether medical records from the woman's college should be unsealed.

Denver attorney Craig Silverman said information mishaps do happen, but added, "It raises some serious ethical questions about whether you even open it, whether you even look at it."

Criminal defense attorney Dan -Recht said the defense may try to hold on to the information, especially if it believes it reflects on the woman's credibility or emotional stability.

"I doubt if they will send it back without a court order," he said.

The alleged victim already has had her name and address briefly, and mistakenly, posted on the state courts Web site.

"I'm sure it's upsetting to (the alleged victim)," Cynthia Stone, spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said of the mishaps and scrutiny.

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