Prosecutors Say Samples Are Contaminated

Prosecutors in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case want the defense to prove before the trial begins that important DNA test results are reliable, suggesting in court filings released Wednesday that evidence might have been manipulated.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle scheduled a hearing today on the matter, one day before jury selection is to begin.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dana Easter said the prosecution has discovered contamination in DNA samples tested by defense expert Elizabeth Johnson and other employees of Technical Associates, a Ventura laboratory. Easter also said that data “appears to be whited out or otherwise manipulated.”

Johnson testified several times in closed hearings. In transcripts made public from a hearing in June, she said DNA evidence strongly suggests that Bryant’s accuser had sex with another man after her encounter with Bryant last summer and before her hospital examination the next day.

Easter mentioned the tampering at a hearing Aug. 16 and Eagle County Dist. Atty. Mark Hurlbert alluded to it as long ago as April when during an open hearing he objected to physical evidence being delivered to Technical Associates for testing.

Ruckriegle asked whether Hurlbert believed the defense experts were “going to tamper with it.” Hurlbert replied: “Judge, I do not necessarily want to go there at this time.”

Easter also asked the judge to order the defense to hand over documents that prosecutors have requested related to the DNA testing earlier this month. She said defense attorney Hal Haddon has not returned calls to prosecutors. “The documents requested are essential to complete the documentation of the defendant’s DNA evidence,” Easter said.

Contamination was present in samples intended to ensure the accuracy of testing, Easter said. In her filing, she included an Aug. 16 letter in which Haddon told prosecutors much of the requested material had already been turned over.

Legal analyst Larry Pozner said the allegation of evidence tampering is an attempt by prosecutors to cast doubt on DNA results that are damaging to the accuser.

“It’s a role reversal,” he said. “Normally, the defense tries to create reasonable doubt by questioning scientific evidence produced by the prosecution. Here the defense has the evidence on its side, and it is the prosecution doing everything it can to convey to jurors that the evidence cannot be trusted.”

Prosecutors also have been in contact with a Texas man who said Johnson tampered with DNA evidence during a murder trial several years ago. It is unclear whether the prosecution plans to raise the issue at trial.

Bryant, 26, has pleaded not guilty to felony sexual assault, saying he had consensual sex with the woman June 30, 2003, at the mountain resort where he was a guest and she worked.

Ruckriegle has ruled that evidence of the accuser’s sexual conduct in the 72 hours before her medical examination is admissible. That exam took place about 15 hours after the alleged rape. The defense believes that the DNA evidence establishes that the woman had sex with another man after the alleged rape and before the exam. An attorney for the accuser has said the allegation is not true.

In other filings made public Wednesday, prosecutors objected to 26 exhibits the defense plans to present and Ruckriegle ruled that jurors will be able to ask questions of the attorneys during trial.

Colorado law has allowed jurors in criminal cases to ask questions since July 1. Questions must be submitted to the judge, who determines whether to present them to attorneys.