Kobe Lawyer Slam Dunks Plea Talk
NBA star Kobe Bryant will not enter plea negotiations and has not offered a settlement to the alleged victim pressing sexual assault charges against him, Bryant's lawyer tells CBS News.
"There is a rumor that my client came to Colorado to engage in plea bargain negotiations. That rumor is false," Paula Mackey told CBS News legal analysts Andrew Cohen. "Mr. Bryant is innocent. We intend to try this case to a fair and impartial Colorado jury. There will be no plea negotiations."
Mackey also denied a published report this week that Bryant had offered money to the alleged victim in his sex assault case.
"The allegation that we have offered a monetary settlement to Mr. Bryant's accuser is false. No such negotiations have occurred," she said.
Bryant, a 24-year-old husband and father of one, has said he had sex with a 19-year-old employee at a mountain resort June 30 but denies assaulting her. He is free on $25,000 bond.
A judge ruled Thursday that the arrest warrant in the case should be released to the public but gave attorneys 15 days to appeal.
The documents have been sealed since the Los Angeles Lakers star was arrested last month, but media organizations have sought their release from Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett.
The judge ruled that the arrest warrant and related materials should be unsealed. He said other items requested by media attorneys — including the search warrant and other documents that could provide details of the case — will remain sealed.
"The court concludes that there is a substantial probability that the defendant's right to a fair trial would be prejudiced by disclosure of the affidavit and search warrant materials and that such prejudice could be prevented by non-disclosure," Gannett wrote.
The judge also said he is not inclined to grant any defense request to move the trial, saying the extensive publicity "diminishes the remedy of a change of venue."
"The court does not find it reasonable to compel defendant to submit to a change of venue in order to preserve his right to an impartial jury," he said.
Bryant is scheduled to return to Eagle for an Oct. 9 preliminary hearing, where Gannett will decide whether there is enough evidence for a trial. If he decides that there is, the case will be handed over to a district court judge.
The intense media attention surrounding the Bryant case has led the court to issue some unusual rules. The only document released so far has been Bryant's booking photograph, taken after he turned himself in on July 4.
Gannett has also threatened to bar any news organization that identifies Bryant's accuser from his courtroom. He did allow cameras in the courtroom for Bryant's initial court appearance Aug. 6, over the objections of defense attorneys.
Reporters have been ordered not to interview people inside the courthouse and or take photographs and video of witnesses, potential jurors and Bryant's accuser and her family.