Accuser will now be referred to in court as alleged victim

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
June 2, 2004

The woman who has accused Kobe Bryant of rape will not be referred to as the victim in his upcoming trial, a judge has ruled.

The 19-year-old Eagle woman will be called "the alleged victim" or be referred to by her name, said Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle.

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In jury instructions, the term person is to be used.

Bryant's lawyers had objected to the term victim.

The Los Angeles Lakers star contends he and the woman had consensual sex June 30 during his stay at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, and his legal team maintains no crime even occurred.

Bryant's lawyers argued that to call the woman a victim prior to a verdict signals to jurors and potential jurors that in fact a crime did occur - robbing him of his constitutional right to presumption of innocence.

The Bryant team's preferred way of referring to the woman until the start of trial is "complaining witness."

His lawyers asked that she and Bryant be referred to by their names at the trial.

Ruckriegle agreed with the defense's line of reasoning in his three-page order.

"The common understanding of the term victim certainly implies that a person has been the subject of a particular wrong or crime and its use under these circumstances could improperly suggest that a crime has been committed, such that the presumption of innocence might be jeopardized," Ruckriegle ruled.

Ruckriegle's decision was a setback for victim advocates who have followed the Bryant case closely. An attorney for the alleged victim had also filed a brief arguing in favor of using the term victim.

"The biggest disappointment in this ruling is the fact that it is forcing the prosecution team to call this woman an alleged victim, when that's against their most deep-seated philosophies and convictions," said Cynthia Stone, spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

"These prosecutors would not be working so hard on this trial if they did not believe that a crime happened," Stone added. Stone's organization was one of four victim advocacy groups to file a "friend of the court" brief in the case, arguing in favor of the use of the term victim.

Stone said she could not readily name another case in which "this semantic debate" - as the judge described it - had even become an issue.

Ruckriegle, however, did not give Bryant's lawyers everything they wanted. They had asked that Bryant be referred to during his trial by name.

Ruckriegle ordered that Bryant may be referred to by his name - but also by the term defendant, since "it is an accurate reflection of his legal status," Ruckriegle ruled.

Legal observers noted that such a pretrial battle over people's labels was unusual.

Denver defense lawyer Craig Skinner said the debate already appears to be influencing other proceedings.

"In courts in Denver, defense counsel are now using the word accuser, rather than victim, which was a word that even defense counsel would use before," Skinner said. "So this case is setting precedent, on that matter.

"That the judge has ruled the way he has is sort of against political correctness. And it's kind of a courageous decision."

Anne Munch, a former prosecutor, now director of the Ending Violence Against Women Project under the auspices of the Colorado District Attorneys' Council, said the debate sparked by the Bryant case is one she has not seen before.

"I put faith in jurors to be able to read and understand all of the things that go into a criminal case," Munch said. "I don't think it's really going to be problematic, one way or the other."

Bryant is expected to stand trial this summer in Eagle County District Court.

brennanc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2742

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