For Rookie D.A., a Case Study in Support Group Dynamics

Squinting uncomfortably into the glare of two dozen television cameras, Mark Hurlbert appeared to stand alone against the world when he brought a felony sexual assault charge against Laker star Kobe Bryant.

Since that July 18 news conference, however, the first-year chief prosecutor of Colorado’s four-county 5th Judicial District has discovered he has the backing of his brethren throughout Colorado.

Support began with advice and the promise of much-needed financial aid from the two most powerful prosecutors in the state, Atty. Gen. Ken Salazar and Denver Dist. Atty. William Ritter, during a meeting three days before charges were filed.

“We are all going to do what we can to assist a small rural office in a high-profile case,” Ritter said. “This is a team effort. Mark spelled out what he required and everyone responded.”

A district attorney only since December, Hurlbert is compensating for any shortcoming in experience by delegating the workload and letting others speak for him.

His office door has been locked for a week. He hired a spokeswoman and has refused interview requests for more than two weeks. And he did not appear in court during the first skirmish before a judge, allowing trusted lieutenant Gregory Crittenden to argue that Bryant’s arrest documents remain sealed.

More help is on the way. Hurlbert gained the full-time services of Ingrid Bakke, a respected Boulder prosecutor who specializes in sexual assault cases. He can also count on district attorneys from large offices in Denver and Jefferson counties to author prosecution motions and respond to the anticipated flood of motions from Bryant’s well-financed defense team.

And even though the 5th Judicial District operates on a shoestring budget, Hurlbert is socking away money for a battle that eventually could cost state taxpayers millions. Eagle County commissioners pledged $105,000 last week and the Colorado District Attorneys council is prepared to dip into an emergency fund that could help pay for expert witnesses, travel costs and transcript fees.

“I’m sure he will be swamped,” said Ken Lane, the attorney general’s spokesman. “Unfortunately, the fact that [Bryant] is a celebrity means the case is going to cost more to the prosecution.”

Whatever money is earmarked from the $2-million annual budget divvied among 11 deputy district attorneys in the 5th Judicial District counties of Eagle, Summit, Lake and Clear Creek won’t go far.

Arrayed against the prosecution is the full might of Bryant’s name and money, beginning with high-powered attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon, who sat beside the Laker guard at Staples Center when he said he committed adultery with the 19-year-old accuser -- but not rape.

Mackey and Haddon are veteran defense lawyers renowned for meticulously uncovering every detail in a case. They also are said to have some of the best investigators in Colorado who have been at work for weeks talking to witnesses and staff at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, site of the alleged incident.

In Bryant’s favor: His immense popularity and reputation, before his arrest, for being among the most private and straight-laced players in the NBA.

“The cult of celebrity is not easily overcome,” said Scott Robinson, a Denver criminal attorney, “but [the prosecution] is fortunate enough to be trying this case in a county where citizens have a high degree of sophistication and a healthy skepticism about the invincibility of famous people.”

Robinson said he expects the prosecution to continually remind jurors that Bryant should be governed by the same rules of conduct that apply to their neighbors. That, he added, could result in “an overreaction against Bryant’s celebrity ... the thinking that, ‘We’re not going to let this guy walk in here with his fancy suits and big-dollar attorneys and get away with assaulting a local girl.’ ”

Legal analysts say they expect the trial to include racial overtones, sexual stereotypes and graphic testimony. “This is going to be X-rated, the details of this case will be for mature viewing audiences only,” said Craig Silverman, former chief deputy district attorney in Denver.

Colorado’s rape shield law largely prevents an alleged victim’s sexual history from becoming an issue at trial, but other details of the accuser’s past might be raised by Bryant’s side.

“If you’re the defense, you obviously have to try to go after it, but it may be considered inadmissible or irrelevant,” said Jim Fahrenholtz, an Avon, Colo., criminal defense attorney. “I don’t think the defense will be able to get those details in, and my guess is that [the prosecution] thinks it will not come in, either.”

Complicating trial preparation for the prosecution, legal experts said, is that it will need to re-interview several witnesses who have talked to friends, relatives and reporters.

“That means more work for the D.A.’s office,” said Krista Flannigan, Hurlbert’s spokeswoman.

All the more reason for teamwork, although leaning on others is an about-face for Hurlbert. After Bryant was arrested, Hurlbert told The Times that he would personally do the prosecuting in the case that could bring the 24-year-old NBA All-Star four years to life in prison.

“I generally will be on most of the high-profile cases,” he said. “I would [try the case]. It’s the reason I got in the business.”

But at the meeting with district attorneys statewide, he looked around the room and realized there was no need to go it alone.

State attorney Salazar, who has 210 lawyers on staff, and Denver D.A. Ritter, who has 65, were the first to pledge support. Others followed suit.

“It’s a very cooperative group,” said Mary Keenan, Boulder County district attorney. “We were going to give Mark what he needed to do the job right.”

Keenan offered the services of Bakke, a champion of children’s and sex assault victims’ rights. Ritter gave his approval, telling Hurlbert, “Ingrid is the Cadillac version in terms of sexual assault prosecutors.”

Bakke, 40, has handled several high-profile sex cases in Boulder and in Jefferson County, where she worked from 1990 to 2001. She helped in the prosecution of three men accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old honor student in 1997 -- getting a death penalty verdict against one of them -- and more recently won convictions against serial rapist Keith Schwinaman and a police officer accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

Precisely how the caseload will be divided among Hurlbert, Bakke and Crittenden is unclear. Crittenden, 33, has worked in the 5th Judicial District office only since March, but appears to have gained the trust of his boss.

At the first significant court hearing in the Bryant case -- a motion last week by news organizations to unseal critical documents -- Crittenden argued forcefully, contending Colorado’s criminal justice records act requires such information to remain closed in order to protect an alleged victim’s privacy and reduce the information disseminated to a potential jury pool.

“We can’t treat this case like any other case,” Crittenden told Judge Frederick Gannett. “We’re not dealing with a normal person. We’re dealing with a celebrity who’s known worldwide.”

Later, he pleaded for the rights of the accuser, arguing that unsealing the documents would “allow [reporters] to talk about the facts of the case and what can only possibly be the most tragic, horrific, embarrassing event of the victim’s life. That alone re-victimizes her every time she sees or hears about it.”

Hurlbert, until he brought charges against Bryant, had developed a reputation for being cautious in high-profile cases.

In one emotionally charged instance, he dropped sexual assault charges against an Illinois man who allegedly raped a sleeping 24-year-old woman in an Avon hotel room in December 2001. The case was set to go to trial in January of this year, but Hurlbert backed off weeks after taking office.

“He didn’t even have the guts to call us,” said Mike Holcomb, the alleged victim’s father. “It was an open-and-shut case. The [deputy] district attorney handling the case and the detectives who investigated, they all wanted to go to trial.”

Hurlbert told Holcomb that he couldn’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the same standard he said applied when filing charges against Bryant.

Yet some local attorneys believe that standard has been elastic.

They say Hurlbert has pushed to “bump the numbers” and compile a high percentage of convictions in relatively uncomplicated cases while declining to press charges in more involved, potentially expensive cases.

Eagle County defense attorney Bruce Carey said Hurlbert has aggressively prosecuted minor drug offenders, eliminating an option that made some eligible for treatment for one year. If clean after that period, the charge would be dismissed.

“I think [Hurlbert] is more concerned with getting a felony conviction -- to build up his numbers,” Carey said.

Some attorneys familiar with Hurlbert also are troubled by his statement during the announcement of Bryant’s charge that he would prosecute a case only if he was convinced there was sufficient evidence.

“Clearly, that hasn’t always been the standard,” Carey said, pointing to a felony case in which he represented an Avon man, William Walter Pyka, 56, who was arrested in March 2002 on suspicion of stalking his ex-girlfriend.

In January, the prosecutor, Brenda Parks, informed Hurlbert she could not prove the case and was unprepared for trial because she had failed to subpoena necessary witnesses.

However, Hurlbert said in an April 4 sworn statement obtained by The Times that Parks “did not say she could not prove the case.” Hurlbert amended the statement April 23, acknowledging that Parks “told me she was unprepared to go to trial and that she could not prove the case.”

Despite knowing he could not take the case to trial, Hurlbert persuaded Pyka to plea bargain to misdemeanor harassment.

“Maybe that’s shrewd lawyering,” said another prosecutor who did not want to be identified. “Maybe he’s learning on the job.”

The Bryant case promises to be full of powerful lessons as well, not the least of which is the value of teamwork. With help from prosecutors all over the state, Hurlbert might be able to overcome shortages of manpower and money.

“It deserves,” Ritter said, “everyone’s best effort.”