Bryant Is Back in Court Today

Kobe Bryant turns his attention today from the NBA playoffs to the extended pretrial hearings in his sexual assault case, the first of three days of proceedings that could conclude with his entering a plea.

First on the agenda is finishing the rape-shield hearing that began March 2 and already has taken up three days in Eagle County (Colo.) Court. The last few of the nearly two dozen witnesses called by the defense are to provide testimony about the sexual history of Bryant’s accuser.

Among the witnesses will be Johnray Strickland, a former boyfriend of the 19-year-old woman who spoke publicly in October about her mental health, saying she was “borderline bipolar.”

Bryant’s attorneys are attempting to establish that the woman’s sexual activity in the days surrounding the encounter June 30 at a mountain resort is relevant to the case and should be admissible at trial. Prosecutors say her liaisons with other men are irrelevant and are inadmissible under Colorado’s stringent rape-shield law.

The rape-shield hearing and a suppression hearing on whether Bryant’s statements to investigators are admissible -- the next item on the court’s agenda -- will be closed to the media and the public.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle wrote in a scheduling order that he will take up two additional items beginning Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

He wants a status report from the defense on DNA testing done on underwear the accuser wore to a hospital examination the day after the alleged assault. The testing was to be completed Friday at a Ventura County laboratory.

Ruckriegle also said he would hear arguments from both sides on whether Bryant should enter a plea, which would force the judge to set a trial date within six months under Colorado’s speedy-trial law. The accuser’s attorney and prosecutors have filed motions asking that a trial date be set as soon as possible because the woman’s life has been severely disrupted.

Bryant’s attorneys have said they do not object to his entering a plea but have deferred to Ruckriegle’s wish to conclude pretrial hearings before doing so.