By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
May 18, 2004

Dueling sound experts in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case have been given permission to examine the tape recorder used by detectives to secretly capture his initial statement to detectives.

An order by Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle made public on Monday states that defense expert Richard Sanders and prosecution expert John Polito may withdraw the Sony microcassette recorder from evidence storage to conduct forensic examinations on the device.

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Sanders and Polito's testimony will help Ruckriegle decide whether Bryant's statement to detectives at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in the early morning hours of July 2 should be admitted as evidence.

Bryant's lawyers want the tape recording - and his Nike T-shirt obtained at the same time and stained with traces of the alleged victim's blood - tossed out as evidence. They say the tape was recorded without Bryant's knowledge, when he was in custody, and without having been read his Miranda rights.

Also, in his initial motion asking that the tape be kept out of the trial, defense lawyer Hal Haddon said, "The electronic version of this interrogation provided to defense counsel . . . is substantially inaudible, which is separate ground for its inadmissibility."

Bryant is charged with the June 30 rape of a 19-year-old Eagle woman at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, where he was a guest and his alleged victim was employed as a concierge.

Bryant pleaded not guilty last Tuesday, and his trial is expected to take place by late summer.

Eagle County sheriff's Detective Dan Loya testified at a Feb. 3 pretrial hearing that the recorder was sitting in his breast pocket when he and Detective Doug Winters first met Bryant in the resort's parking lot. Loya said it ran continually during their hour-plus conversation with Bryant, save for when Loya ducked into a bathroom to flip the 60-minute tape over.

The recorder itself, in Ruckriegle's order, is referred to as a defense exhibit.

In a separate development Monday, four victims' advocacy groups entered the legal debate over how Bryant's alleged victim should be referred to during court proceedings.

Bryant's lawyers object to her being called the "victim."

But in a friend-of-the-court brief made public Monday, that position was assailed by the National Crime Victim Law Institute, the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance.

Copyright 2004, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.