Prosecutors Ask for Plea

Prosecutors asked Friday that Kobe Bryant enter a plea to the felony sexual assault charge against him so that a trial date can be set.

In a written motion, Eagle County (Colo.) Dist. Atty. Mark Hurlbert requested that Judge Terry Ruckriegle speed up the proceedings because “the mental and emotional toll on [Bryant’s accuser] is truly devastating as this case lingers on.”

Hurlbert said prosecutors have not caused delays, and took special pains to explain that the unwillingness of his office to turn over physical evidence to the defense for testing did not hold up the proceedings.

The motion echoed a March 25 filing by John Clune, an attorney for the 19-year-old woman who has accused the Laker guard of raping her June 30 at a mountain resort. Bryant has said they had consensual sex.

Clune’s motion to set a trial date included a letter from the alleged victim’s mother to Ruckriegle that detailed the hardship the highly publicized case has caused her.

Bryant’s attorneys followed Ruckriegle’s recommendation to not enter a plea at a court appearance in November because doing so would have triggered Colorado’s speedy-trial law and require that a trial be held within six months.

During a conference call Friday, Bryant’s attorneys told Ruckriegle they planned to respond Monday to the motions filed by Hurlbert and Clune. Kim Morss, an attorney for the Colorado Judicial Department, also took part in the call at the judge’s request.

Bryant was charged July 18, a preliminary hearing was held in October and a series of pretrial hearings to determine what evidence will be admissible at trial began in December and is scheduled through mid-May.

Ruckriegle said during the conference call that the rape-shield hearing that already has taken up three court dates will conclude April 26 and 27. A hearing on whether statements Bryant made to investigators and a bloodstained T-shirt seized from him will be admissible will conclude April 28.

Arguments on the constitutionality of Colorado’s rape-shield law also will be heard on those dates if time permits.

Next on the docket will be arguments by Clune and Hurlbert on the request for a trial date. May 10-12 have been set aside for any matters not completed during the April hearings.

Also, results of DNA testing of portions of the underwear worn by Bryant’s accuser at a rape exam the day after the encounter must be submitted April 23 to Ruckriegle by the defense.