Judge in Oklahoma Bombing Trials Gets Bryant Civil Case

Richard P. Matsch, the judge who presided over the Oklahoma City bombing trials, has been assigned the civil lawsuit filed against Kobe Bryant.

Matsch, 74, appointed to the bench by President Nixon 30 years ago, is known for running a tight courtroom. He was selected for the case by the random system used in Denver federal court.

He has presided over several high-profile cases, none more renowned than the trials of Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols for the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. McVeigh was executed; Nichols received a life sentence.

Bryant is scheduled for trial in criminal court this month on a sexual assault charge in Eagle County, Colo.

His accuser sued him in civil court Tuesday, seeking unspecified damages.

Her attorneys have said that rulings against her in criminal court, plus mistakenly released evidence about her sexual history, caused the woman to file a civil case.

Several filings in the criminal case were made public Thursday, most having to do with the gag order Judge Terry Ruckriegle has placed on all parties involved.

The woman’s attorneys argued in one filing that the broadness of the order has handcuffed them from defending their client against “unrebutted public accusations against her.”