D.A. Feels Heat in Bryant Case

Mark Hurlbert is running, but he’s not in a hurry.

The district attorney who must decide whether to file sexual assault and false imprisonment charges against Kobe Bryant relieved stress Thursday night as he typically does, jogging along mountain roads that wind through Breckenridge, the resort town where he lives with his wife and two young children.

His announcement earlier in the day that he would not make a decision about charging Bryant until next week was met with exasperation by some.

But Hurlbert, 34, acknowledged in an interview with The Times that this case probably will shape his reputation. If he decides to file charges, he knows he must have enough evidence.

“Certainly I want to be cautious,” he said. “It is a serious action to charge anybody with a felony. People think prosecutors are just trying to put people in jail.

“I don’t want to be so cautious that I don’t do anything. But I have to feel confident I can win it. I have an ethical obligation that before filing a charge, I must believe I can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

So he mulls over the evidence while he runs through the hills, pine needles crunching underfoot.

He considers the credibility of the victim, a 19-year-old woman who grew up in Eagle. She accused Bryant of assaulting her the night of June 30 at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in nearby Edwards, the exclusive hotel where she worked and Bryant stayed when he came to Colorado for July 1 arthroscopy on his right knee.

He worries about the inexperience of nearly everyone involved in the investigation. Eagle County Sheriff Joseph Hoy has been on the job only since Jan. 14 and already rankled Hurlbert by going to a judge, who issued a warrant for Bryant’s arrest July 4, rather than go to the district attorney.

Hurlbert has been district attorney since December, and he has already experienced wholesale turnover on his staff. Criminal defense attorneys in the area wonder aloud whether anyone in the district attorney’s office is savvy enough to win a case against Bryant’s high-powered team of attorneys.

Inevitably, Hurlbert feels pressure.

“Sometimes I lose sleep over it,” he said. “It is big stuff. I try to set it aside by spending time with my kids and running at night.”

Hurlbert grew up in nearby Dillon, a speck on the Summit County map with 750 residents, and after attending Dartmouth and graduating from law school at Colorado, he took a job as a deputy district attorney in 1994.

He rapidly ascended the ranks and in December became the Fifth Judicial District Attorney, in charge of prosecuting crimes in four counties. Co-workers describe him as easygoing, caring and fair.

“He is very driven by doing the right thing, the just thing,” said Arlene Sandberg, his administrative assistant.

Hurlbert has had one high-profile case this year. A 56-year-old Illinois man died while skiing in March following a collision at Breckenridge Ski Resort, and the district attorney decided there was insufficient evidence to file charges against the other man in the crash.

A decision about filing charges against Bryant won’t be made until physical evidence collected from the player and the alleged victim is analyzed. DNA samples taken from Bryant at a Glenwood Springs hospital July 2 should establish whether sex took place, although it is unclear whether those results will be available next week.

Once evidence is compiled, Hurlbert must consider whether his office has the resources to butt heads with the Denver law firm representing Bryant. Hurlbert said he likes to try high-profile cases himself, although Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregg Crittenden is considered the most likely candidate.

One of Bryant’s attorneys, Pamela Mackey, defended Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy in a domestic violence case two years ago in which the charges were dropped. Another, Harold Haddon, represented John Ramsey in the JonBenet Ramsey case and represented author Hunter S. Thompson on drug, explosives and sexual assault charges.

“We’ll see how much of a factor our [limited resources] are,” Hurlbert said.

“It’s not something we have ever encountered. Right now we’re trying to make a filing decision.”

His evening run ends at a summit in the Arapahoe National Forest. He stops to enjoy the breathtaking vista before him. But he knows this visibility is nothing compared to what he might experience in coming days.