By Peggy Lowe, Rocky Mountain News
August 17, 2004

EAGLE - One of the key decisions left for the judge before Kobe Bryant's sexual assault trial begins is whether to allow TV cameras in the courtroom.

And much like all the other see-saw speculation surrounding this case, court watchers offer both thumbs up and thumbs down.

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"I will eat my tie if this judge allows cameras in the courtroom after what's happened in this case," said Andrew Cohen, a legal analyst.

Ruckriegle has apologized for his court's mistake in posting the accuser's name on a public Web site and for sending out secret transcripts to the media via an erroneous e-mail.

And Ruckriegle has been urged by Bryant's attorneys, prosecutors and the alleged victim's lawyers to keep the cameras out.

Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said the case has all the makings of a tawdry reality show called Survivor: Eagle County.

"It will have sex, violence, lies and national celebrity," Hurlbert said during a July hearing.

But David Lugert, a former prosecutor now working as a private attorney in Eagle, said he believes Ruckriegle will allow the cameras. The judge has done so on several high-profile murder trials in the past, Lugert said.

"He believes in the public's right to access to the courtroom through the single-pool camera," Lugert said. "He'll protect the jury, and he'll protect the faces of any witnesses."

Ruckriegle was to rule by Aug. 1 on Court TV's request to place cameras in the small Courtroom 1 in the Eagle County Justice Center. But he posted an announcement around that date saying he was too busy dealing with the media appeals to publish the mistakenly sent transcripts to make his decision.

Even without the broadcast from the courtroom, there will be plenty of coverage.

There are more than 400 credentialed media that will converge on Eagle on Aug. 27, the first day of jury selection. Court officials expect opening arguments by Sept. 7.

Court TV proposed using two small cameras and then delaying the feed by an hour to run it through a computer and edit out sensitive information, like the alleged victim's name or her picture.

A lower court judge denied the media's request for cameras during Bryant's preliminary hearing last fall, saying court rules prohibit shooting any pretrial hearings.

Although it would be a "virtually live" broadcast, rape victim advocates are opposed to the cameras in the courtroom. Even with the safeguards, there can be accidents and the alleged victim's name or face could be aired on national television, said Cynthia Stone of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

"There is way, way, way too many chances that a mistake could be made, even with an hour's delay," she said.

lowep@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5482

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