Lists of exhibits, inventories of physical evidence included

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
November 2, 2004

Two months from the day that Kobe Bryant's trial for sexual assault was canceled by dismissal of the charge against him, several once-sealed documents in that case were made public Monday, including lists of the evidence each side was prepared to present.

Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle, in response to prodding by a consortium of media organizations, released 11 documents from which he had first removed any details that would identify Bryant's alleged victim.

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That woman, now 20, lived in Eagle at the time of the alleged June 30, 2003, assault. She has since filed a lawsuit against Bryant alleging rape in U.S. District Court in Denver.

After first filing her suit Aug. 10 as Jane Doe, then seeing her legal right to sue anonymously successfully challenged by both the Rocky Mountain News and attorneys representing the Los Angeles Lakers star, she refiled the suit under her name, Katelyn Faber.

The civil lawsuit is still pending.

Documents not released by Ruckriegle on Monday, but expected to be forthcoming soon, include a more complete version of Bryant's statement to investigators, hearing transcripts and documents related to DNA testing and expert witnesses.

Made public on Monday were both sides' exhibit lists, the inventories of physical evidence intended by prosecutors to put Bryant behind bars, and the evidence proposed by defense lawyers to exonerate him.

The 98 itemized prosecution exhibits - many covering multiple items - include dozens of photographs from the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, where the incident occurred, the clothes Bryant and Faber wore that night, DNA evidence from the two, plus hotel room and phone records for Bryant and three other members of his entourage.

The prosecution exhibits also include video from the July 18, 2003, news conference at which Bryant admitted only to consensual contact with his accuser; audiotapes and transcripts from Bryant's statement to police; evidence concerning the woman's employment records and time cards, plus a Cordillera letter of recommendation; DNA swabs from her friend, Cordillera bellman Bobby Pietrack; and phone text messages for her ex-boyfriend, Matt Herr.

More than 150 defense exhibits were documented in Monday's release, and there is significant overlap between the Bryant team list and that of the prosecution.

Defense exhibits not duplicative of the prosecution list include 15 identified only as "Calgary photograph."

Documents released by the Eagle County District Attorney's Office last month confirmed that Faber made a trip to Calgary, Canada, in the summer of 2003 after Bryant's arrest, where she behaved publicly in a way that made some question whether she had really been victimized.

Listed by the defense is the March 8 issue of the Globe supermarket weekly, which pictured Faber partying during that Calgary trip, with the headline, "Kobe Accuser Goes WILD!"

The defense team's hopes of throwing the alleged victim's credibility into question are also underscored by several listed exhibits pertaining to what prior defense motions identified as her suicide attempts on Feb. 23, 2003, in Fort Collins, and May 30, 2003, in Eagle.

The defense filed seven supplements to its exhibit list, as events continued to unfold, leading up to the start of jury selection Aug. 27.

For example, one late addition was a DVD recording and transcript of an Aug. 4 appearance on Good Morning America by Faber's two lawyers.

In that appearance, lawyer Lin Wood discussed Faber's anguish over the then-approaching trial, and said Faber was wondering "whether she can be treated fairly in the criminal justice system."

Less than a month later, she made the decision that she didn't want to go through with the criminal trial.

Copyright 2004, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.