Judge orders lawyers in Bryant rape suit to obey court rules

By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News
February 3, 2005

Federal Judge Richard Matsch cracked down Wednesday on what he called publicity-seeking lawyers filing titillating, unnecessary documents with the court in the rape lawsuit against basketball star Kobe Bryant.

"The court is not involved in the entertainment business," Matsch told the attorneys assembled in his courtroom for a hearing on other matters.

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Accuser Katelyn Faber, visibly pregnant and now married, attended the hearing with her husband. She declined to talk with reporters.

Faber has accused Bryant of raping her during the summer of 2003 at a Colorado mountain resort where he was a guest and she was an employee.

Bryant, who is married, has admitted having sex with Faber but insisted it was consensual.

The judge reminded the lawyers of the reason for filing legal documents with the court.

"These communications are to this court for rulings by the court," Matsch said, "and they should not be a substitute for press releases, to put my view of this in the plainest possible language."

"It is to be expected that everything that is done here is done consistently with the rules and with a sense of decorum and decency," the judge said.

Matsch gave lawyers specific orders on what should and shouldn't be filed in court.

What shouldn't, he said, includes depositions, interrogatories, requests for documents, requests for admissions and requests to enter upon land.

Such material may not be admitted in an eventual trial, but publicity about it may affect public perceptions, Matsch said.

"Counsel for both parties have given a loose interpretation to this rule by submitting copies of such documents as attachments to their motions and responses," the judge said.

"That practice must stop," he said.

The judge said the lawyers shouldn't keep attaching copies of "scandalous and outrageous" news reports on the case, which then get "republished."

He told them also to stop filing copies of their correspondence with each other detailing squabbles over such matters as when depositions might be taken and what they might cover.

"Written correspondence and printouts of electronic communications have been included in filings with the clerk and have thereby been available to the public, generating undue speculation about this proceeding," Matsch said.

"That practice must stop."

Matsch also ordered the lawyers to seal and keep in their offices all deposition transcripts in the case, filing no copies or excerpts in court and quoting none in court documents.

He made his order retroactive to the start of the lawsuit last summer, requiring court staff to sift through four fat file folders and extract materials Matsch deemed improper.

Matsch granted Faber's request - one of the original reasons for the hearing - that Bryant not be allowed to legally attribute any damages she suffered to organizations and individuals who aren't parties to the lawsuit, including news organizations and the state court.

The judge declined to rule on whether Faber's lawyers can ask Bryant to give sworn testimony in deposition about all his other sexual partners.

The judge said he couldn't decide such a question in advance and out of context.

He also ordered the lawyers to quickly schedule the deposition of Bryant by Faber's lawyers - an event the lawyers earlier had said might occur in early December, but which has been delayed by disputes about what Bryant can be asked and other details.

"I expect this case should get tried in the summer," Matsch said. "This summer."

abbottk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5188

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