Bryant Judge Allows Hearing

The judge in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case denied a prosecution attempt to halt the evidentiary hearing on the rape-shield law Tuesday, and Dist. Atty. Mark Hurlbert indicated he would appeal the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle also denied for a second time a motion to limit the scope of questions that defense attorneys would be allowed to ask the woman accusing Bryant of rape.

The Supreme Court could consider overturning that ruling as well, according to prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan. First, however, the high court must decide whether it will hear the appeal, a decision that could be made as soon as Friday.

The moves are not expected to delay proceedings that already have taken eight months. The next scheduled hearings are March 24 and 25. Additional pretrial hearing dates were set for April 26, 27 and 28, should they be necessary.

Even as the decision to appeal was being made, the rape-shield evidentiary hearing began as scheduled Tuesday in closed court with testimony from several former classmates of Bryant’s accuser when she attended the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the woman’s sexual and mental health history is an exception to Colorado’s stringent rape-shield law and therefore admissible at trial.

Other developments occurred outside the courtroom. A forensics expert said it is nearly impossible to determine the age of semen taken in a rape examination, calling into question a defense allegation that the accuser had sex with another man less than 15 hours after she said she was raped by the Laker star.

Also, an attorney representing the 19-year-old woman issued a statement saying his client did not have sex after the encounter with Bryant and that “anyone trying to prove otherwise will be chasing ghosts.”

Bryant, 25, met the woman June 30 at a resort hotel in Edwards, Colo., where she worked. He says they had consensual sex.

The defense believes the woman’s sexual conduct in the days surrounding the alleged assault is an exception to the rape-shield law because it offers an alternative source for her vaginal trauma. It supports the defense theory that she claimed she was raped only to gain attention from a former boyfriend.

In open court Monday, defense attorney Hal Haddon said that swabs of semen taken from the woman were from a man other than Bryant, and he suggested in a written motion that she had sex with someone else after the alleged sexual assault and before the rape exam.

The allegation was not new. In a court filing Jan. 12, defense attorney Pamela Mackey suggested “an intervening sex act.” Mackey also wrote that the woman “told law enforcement that the underwear had been clean when she put them on, and laundering of the underwear would have destroyed any semen present.”

Pete Mang, a spokesman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said in an interview Tuesday that the only way to gauge of the age of semen is to test for sperm, which can remain present for about 72 hours. That would indicate the defense has no forensic evidence that proves the woman had sex after the alleged rape.

But Mang also said it would be “highly unusual” for dried semen from underwear to transfer to a person’s body and be detected in a swab. That would support the defense assertion that the semen from the swab is from a different sexual episode than the semen on the underwear.

The woman told investigators that the last time she had consensual sex before the alleged rape was June 28 with a boyfriend who used a condom. It is that testimony that forms the basis for the defense contention that the semen obtained from the rape examination must have originated from sexual conduct after the encounter with Bryant.

Because the woman denies having sex with anyone after the alleged rape, the defense is expected to ask her to explain the origin of the semen in her underwear and on the swab should the rape-shield hearing continue.

“It is going to be a difficult day for her,” legal expert Craig Silverman said. “She will be asked to name names. She will be asked where sex took place, the level of force that was used and about her level of sobriety.”

The woman can account for most of the 15-hour period beginning when she left Bryant’s hotel room and ending with her rape examination. However, testimony indicates bellman Bobby Pietrack followed her home from the hotel, and the next morning she was alone at home for several hours before calling her mother at work.

The focus on her conduct after the alleged rape prompted her attorney, John Clune, to issue the written denial. After he did, a Colorado courts administrator asked that Ruckriegle rule whether Clune was in violation of an existing gag order.

“There have been several instances that fit into a gray area of the gag order, and I just asked the judge for clarification,” said Karen Salaz, who serves as a liaison between the judge and the media.

Clune is a former Eagle County deputy district attorney who has a private practice in nearby Idaho Springs. Neither he nor his partner, Rob Wheeler, another former Eagle County prosecutor, have commented publicly about the case.

In addition to more rape-shield testimony, the schedule for March 24 and 25 includes completing the suppression hearing on whether statements Bryant made to investigators will be admissible. Salaz did not know why the suppression hearing -- which started in February and resumed Monday -- was not concluded Tuesday.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Courting Trouble

How the Lakers have been affected on the court by Kobe Bryant’s legal responsibilities in Colorado:

* Dec. 19 -- Rushing back to Los Angeles after attending a pre-trial hearing, Bryant entered the Lakers’ game against Denver at the start of the second quarter, finished with 13 points and made the game-winning shot as time expired in a 101-99 victory.

* Feb. 2 -- Bryant missed both the game (cut index finger) and his hearing (flu-like symptoms). With Shaquille O’Neal also out on a one-game suspension, the Lakers lost at Indianapolis, 85-72.

* Tuesday -- With Bryant absent for the first time specifically for court-mandated reasons, the Lakers struggled at Atlanta and lost, 94-93, when two shots failed to fall in the final seconds.