February 11, 2009 8:32 PM
- Text
Kobe Team Summons Accuser
(CBS/AP)
Kobe Bryant's attorneys want his accuser to testify at next month's hearing that will determine whether the NBA superstar will stand trial on a sexual assault charge.
Bryant, 25, is charged with assaulting the woman, who worked at the mountain resort lodge where he stayed June 30. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has said the two had consensual sex.
Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon issued a subpoena to the 19-year-old woman to have her appear at the Oct. 9 preliminary hearing, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said Tuesday.
She said prosecutors were discussing whether to ask the judge to throw out that subpoena. Such a request would not be unusual, she said. "If it were to happen, it would be pretty quickly," Flannigan said.
Neither Mackey and Haddon nor attorneys for the woman returned calls seeking comment.
At the preliminary hearing, prosecutors will attempt to convince Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett that Bryant might have committed the crime. If prosecutors meet that standard, Gannett would order a trial.
Defense attorneys could use any discrepancies between her testimony at the preliminary hearing and the trial to attack her credibility, former Denver District Attorney Norm Early said.
But CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen says it's unlikely the woman will be forced to appear.
"Don't bet on seeing Bryant's accuser on the witness stand at the preliminary hearing," Cohen says. "I think the likely scenario here is that prosecutors will challenge this move and that once they do the judge will rule that Bryant's attorneys cannot call his alleged victim to the stand because she cannot by herself undercut the prosecution's case at this stage of the proceedings."
Cohen says this is "another sign from Bryant's lawyers that they are going to be as aggressive as possible as they proceed to trial."
Bryant's attorneys have sought the accuser's medical records from the University of Northern Colorado's student health clinic, the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and the Eagle Valley Medical Center. The woman was treated earlier this year for mental health problems.
Mackey and Haddon have also issued subpoenas to the university, where the woman was a freshman last year. She has not returned to school this year. University officials would not say what records were turned over.
Prosecutors asked the judge not to release the medical records, saying they could be used in an attempt to destroy the woman's credibility during the preliminary hearing.
In a court filing Monday, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said the woman hadn't waived her medical privacy rights except in the case of records of an examination conducted the day after the alleged attack.
Also Monday, Gannett banned cameras from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing. Court TV, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post had sought permission for cameras in the courtroom. Court TV attorney Richard Holme said the order cannot be appealed.
Bryant, 25, is charged with assaulting the woman, who worked at the mountain resort lodge where he stayed June 30. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has said the two had consensual sex.
Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon issued a subpoena to the 19-year-old woman to have her appear at the Oct. 9 preliminary hearing, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said Tuesday.
She said prosecutors were discussing whether to ask the judge to throw out that subpoena. Such a request would not be unusual, she said. "If it were to happen, it would be pretty quickly," Flannigan said.
Neither Mackey and Haddon nor attorneys for the woman returned calls seeking comment.
At the preliminary hearing, prosecutors will attempt to convince Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett that Bryant might have committed the crime. If prosecutors meet that standard, Gannett would order a trial.
Defense attorneys could use any discrepancies between her testimony at the preliminary hearing and the trial to attack her credibility, former Denver District Attorney Norm Early said.
But CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen says it's unlikely the woman will be forced to appear.
"Don't bet on seeing Bryant's accuser on the witness stand at the preliminary hearing," Cohen says. "I think the likely scenario here is that prosecutors will challenge this move and that once they do the judge will rule that Bryant's attorneys cannot call his alleged victim to the stand because she cannot by herself undercut the prosecution's case at this stage of the proceedings."
Cohen says this is "another sign from Bryant's lawyers that they are going to be as aggressive as possible as they proceed to trial."
Bryant's attorneys have sought the accuser's medical records from the University of Northern Colorado's student health clinic, the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and the Eagle Valley Medical Center. The woman was treated earlier this year for mental health problems.
Mackey and Haddon have also issued subpoenas to the university, where the woman was a freshman last year. She has not returned to school this year. University officials would not say what records were turned over.
Prosecutors asked the judge not to release the medical records, saying they could be used in an attempt to destroy the woman's credibility during the preliminary hearing.
In a court filing Monday, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said the woman hadn't waived her medical privacy rights except in the case of records of an examination conducted the day after the alleged attack.
Also Monday, Gannett banned cameras from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing. Court TV, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post had sought permission for cameras in the courtroom. Court TV attorney Richard Holme said the order cannot be appealed.
Latest Now in National
- Coroner: Autopsy on Whitney Houston completed
- Search resumes at recycling center in Powell case
- Evening News Online, 02.12.12
- Squatters cite old law to claim homes
- Whitney Houston always remembered in her hometown
- Whitney Houston cause of death under investigation
- Whitney Houston's body moved from hotel
- Induced labor allows dying Texas man see daughter
- Induced labor allows dying Texas man see daughter
- Former Pa. DEP chief on contaminated water from gas drilling
- Whitney Houston's daughter taken in ambulance
- NJ man who shot off-duty officer must pay $5.9M
- Autopsy on Whitney Houston to begin Sunday
- Experts: Stanford's trial not won with 1 witness
- Drillers cut natural gas production as prices drop
- Man charged in plot to kill Utah governor
- Nature: Bobcats riding out the snow
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
- Coroner: Houston found bathtub, results weeks away
- McGee, Wall help Wizards rout Pistons 98-77
- Nolan, King lead Kings past Stars 4-2
- Investigators seek answers to Houston's death
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News






