Hearing Should Conclude Today
A hearing on whether jurors will be allowed to hear statements Kobe Bryant made to investigators the day after he allegedly raped a 19-year-old hotel worker is expected to conclude at County Court here today, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The announcement came at the end of almost nine hours of testimony from six witnesses in closed court. Once that hearing is finished, the rest of today’s proceedings will be open to the media and public.
Bryant’s attorneys will disclose findings of laboratory testing of two pairs of underwear the woman wore at the time of the alleged sexual assault, June 30 of last year, and the next day at her hospital examination. The defense contends that there is semen from men other than Bryant on the underwear.
Also in open court will be arguments on whether Bryant should enter a plea, which would prompt Judge Terry Ruckriegle to set a trial date within six months. Court spokeswoman Karen Salaz said Bryant would not be asked to enter a plea today, but that the judge could set a date for the Laker guard to do so. The next hearings are scheduled for May 10-12.
Salaz also said both sides expect a trial to take three weeks -- with the first week being devoted to jury selection.
Four witnesses Tuesday were called by the defense as part of the continuing hearing on whether the woman’s sexual history should be admissible at trial. That brings the number of defense witnesses on the issue to 18. Three of the witnesses Tuesday were young men, the other a nurse from Valley View Hospital who gave the woman her examination.
One prosecution witness, Val Sievers, coordinator of Colorado’s sexual assault nurse examiner program, also testified. Although both the defense and prosecution plan to call additional witnesses, Salaz said the rape-shield hearing could be concluded in May.
When the proceedings turned to Bryant’s statements to investigators, the defense had Richard Sanders, an expert on audiotaping, testify for a second time. Investigators surreptitiously taped Bryant for more than an hour the day after the alleged assault without reading him his Miranda rights. Bryant’s attorneys contend that he was in custody at the time, making his statements inadmissible.
