Defense Wants Files Sealed

In an odd twist to the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, attorneys for the Laker star have sided with the district attorney in an attempt to keep court files from public view.

Responding to an application by The Times and other media to have several documents on the investigation and arrest unsealed, Bryant’s attorneys objected in a 23-page brief.

The court files include documents assembled by the Eagle County Sheriff’s Department in the days after June 30, the day of the alleged sexual assault. The information was used to gain arrest and search warrants. Judge Russell Granger gave Sheriff Joseph Hoy permission to arrest Bryant on July 3 and ordered that the case be sealed.

Bryant, 24, denies sexually assaulting his 19-year-old accuser, although he says he had sex with her at the Lodge & Spa in Cordillera on June 30.

That the prosecutor and defense are both arguing to keep the court file sealed is not unusual, said Chris Beall, the Denver attorney representing The Times and other media.

“There is going to be a description from the victim’s point of view as to what happened in that room,” Beall said. “[Bryant’s attorneys] are trying to make sure that negative information potential jurors might hear doesn’t come out.”

In their response, Bryant attorneys Pamela Mackey and Harold Haddon argued in part: “Investigators for the Sheriff’s Office submitted affidavits recounting their allegations and containing double and triple hearsay.”

The response also stated that “disclosure of the [court file] would unfairly prejudice Mr. Bryant, invade his privacy and the privacy of others, and violate his fundamental right to a fair trial.”

A hearing on whether to make the court file public will be set after Dist. Atty. Mark Hurlbert submits his response to The Times’ request. Hurlbert is expected to do so today, and a hearing before an Eagle County judge could take place within two weeks, Beall said.

The court file is not the only document relating to the case that a judge will decide whether to unseal. The Vail Daily has asked for dispatch records involving the address of the accuser.

Town of Eagle attorney Ed Sands acknowledged that there are three reports relating to two incidents “of a non-criminal nature” in the last year.

“They are sealed because they have nothing to do with the investigation, but it would do irreparable harm if the documents were revealed,” Sands said. “They are of a highly sensitive nature.”

Attorneys had until today to file additional briefs, and until Friday to answer those briefs when Eagle County Judge Richard Hart could make a ruling.