By Charlie Brennan And Peggy Lowe, Rocky Mountain News
August 26, 2004

EAGLE - Prosecutors in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case are claiming that key defense DNA evidence might be contaminated, according to legal filings made public on the eve of the basketball star's trial.

In documents released Wednesday, prosecutor Dana Easter charged that contamination was found in DNA control samples used by defense experts to show that their testing was accurate.

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A final pretrial hearing already had been tentatively scheduled for today to address any unresolved issues prior to Bryant's trial, which is set to begin Friday with the start of jury selection.

Easter's motion asked that the final hearing be used to address prosecutors' concerns on the DNA evidence, and on Wednesday afternoon Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle agreed, setting the matter for 10 a.m. today.

"Clearly, the prosecution is beginning a frontal attack on the defense DNA experts, Dr. Elizabeth Johnson and Mark Taylor," said Denver criminal defense attorney and legal analyst Scott Robinson.

"There is no other way to look at it.

"How much of this is an effort to discredit defense experts on the eve of trial, and whether it's for the purpose of influencing potential jurors or not, we'd have to ask prosecutors," he said.

All lawyers in the Los Angeles Laker star's case are under a strict gag order issued by Ruckriegle.

Easter's new motion states that "the prosecution has discovered that contamination is present in samples which should show negative results" in defense DNA testing.

Also, in the same document, Easter states, "The people have learned that data from Technical Associates Inc. (the defense DNA lab in California) appears to have been whited out or otherwise manipulated."

And, in a separate new motion, Easter made the unusual request that the defense turn over the DNA profiles of every analyst that processed evidence for Bryant's defense team.

In that same motion, Easter asked Ruckriegle to compel the defense to turn over specific information needed by prosecutors to complete their trial preparation.

"The documents requested are essential to complete the documentation of the defendant's DNA evidence," Easter stated.

DNA evidence could be critical in deciding the Bryant case because the defense is claiming it will show that his alleged victim, 19 years old at the time, had sex with several people in a three-day period around her June 30, 2003, encounter with the athlete at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, where she was employed and he was a guest.

Those sexual contacts, according to Bryant's defense team, are the true causes of vaginal trauma that prosecutors contend were caused through forced penetration by Bryant.

Robinson said the eleventh-hour DNA challenge by the prosecution is an attempt "to make the defense experts look bad."

The bid to obtain DNA profiles of every defense DNA analyst, he added, "is a little bit odd. But if there is some evidence of unexplained DNA, someone has to do something to explain it."

The NBA superstar has pleaded not guilty in the case.

A conviction at trial could result in a sentence to four years to life in prison.

brennanc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2742

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