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Key Hearing in Kobe Bryant Case Begins

Posted on: Friday, 19 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Kobe Bryant arrived in Colorado on Friday for a key hearing focusing on whether the NBA star's lawyers will be able to use the medical history of the woman accusing him of rape.

The hearing marks Bryant's fourth appearance in an Eagle County courtroom and he is expected to return again next month.

The hearing began at midmorning and a sheriff's official said fewer than 20 potential witnesses had been called to testify. The hearing was expected to last much of the day.

Bryant's defense subpoenaed people close to Bryant's 19-year-old accuser - including her mother - to testify about what she has said regarding her medical condition and prescription drugs.

The defense wants access to documents from the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, where authorities brought the woman in February after determining she was a "danger to herself."

The defense also wants access to the notes of a rape victim's advocate who spoke with the woman.

Defense lawyers contend in court filings she was a troubled woman who tried to kill herself in February and again in May, and accused Bryant of rape to get her ex-boyfriend's attention. They also say she had been prescribed an anti-psychotic drug.

If state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle allows the details as evidence, the defense is expected to argue that mental problems affected the woman's perception of what happened in a hotel room with Bryant on June 30.

Bryant, 25, says the two had consensual sex.

The Los Angeles Lakers' star, free on $25,000 bond, faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault. The Lakers play at home Friday night, but it was unclear whether he would be able to return to California in time.

Analysts said the defense needs to do everything it can to undermine the woman's credibility at trial.

"The prosecution is desperate to say in closing, `Why would this woman make it up?' All the defense is doing is saying, `Judge, don't tie our hands behind our back, we want to give an answer,'" said Denver attorney Larry Pozner, former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.

In Colorado, a patient's medical records cannot even be reviewed by a judge in private unless the patient consents or gives up their privacy rights. In this case, the woman has not told doctors they can release her medical records.

But defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon have said the woman waived her privacy rights because she told a police officer and others about her medical condition.

Under state law, the attorneys must prove she told people about her medical history and that the information is relevant to the case.

A Jan. 23 hearing has been scheduled to hear arguments about other issues in the case, including a defense request to throw out statements Bryant made to investigators that were secretly taped before he had been read his rights.

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