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Bryant raped victim after they kissed
Eagle, Oct 16: Lawyers for basketball superstar Kobe Bryant asked a Colorado judge for dismissal of rape charges in a pre-trial hearing.
Eagle, Oct 16: Lawyers for basketball superstar Kobe Bryant asked a Colorado judge for dismissal of rape charges in a pre-trial hearing.
Lawyers for Kobe Bryant asked a judge on Wednesday not to put the basketball star on trial for rape, saying his 19-year-old accuser was "not worthy of your belief" and that there was compelling evidence of his innocence But prosecutors argued that besides the woman`s graphic account of her ordeal to police, there was blood evidence and a bruise that pointed to rape and urged the judge in a preliminary hearing to bind the Los Angeles Lakers player over for trial. Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett ended a tense and graphic two-day preliminary hearing spread over two weeks by saying he would make a decision by Monday. Bryant has denied raping the woman, saying they had consensual sex. Bryant`s attorney, Pamela Mackey, said prosecutors failed to meet the probable cause burden of proof required at a preliminary hearing. "This is an extremely thin case based almost entirely on hearsay," she said, referring to the alleged victim not testifying and having her account instead given by a police detective.
Of the accuser, Mackey told the judge, "She is not worthy of your belief." But prosecutor Gregg Crittenden reminded the court that the judge had other testimony as well as photos and blood evidence. He insisted that this was not "a hearsay" case.
"He (Detective Doug Winters) saw underpants with blood on them. He saw three bloodstained smears on the defendant`s shirt. Those were tested and the results came back being the victim`s blood."
He added that a bruise found on the woman`s left jaw also collaborated her statement to police that she was raped by Bryant in the basketball star`s hotel room last June.
"He held her by the back of the neck with his hands during sexual intercourse. He pulled down her pants. She said no. He lifted her skirt. She said no. He bent her over and penetrated her from behind and she cried."
The lawyers spoke at the end of the hearing in which investigator Winters admitted under cross examination that semen and pubic hair belonging to someone other than Bryant was found in the underwear of the woman who accuses him of rape.
Defense lawyers said that discovery constituted compelling evidence of Bryant`s innocence. Mackey suggested during the hearing last week that vaginal injuries to the alleged victim were caused not by rape but by her having sex with three men in three days -- a reference to her sexual history that infuriated prosecutors.
The woman has told police that when she tried to leave Bryant`s hotel room after kissing him the 25-year-old NBA star grabbed her by the neck, bent her face-first over a chair, lifted her skirt, pulled down her underwear and raped her.
Winters said the woman told police that she had consensual sex on June 28, two days before her encounter with Bryant, and that her partner wore a condom.
The police detective, responding to questions from Mackey, also conceded that nurses who examined Bryant after he was accused of rape did not find bruises or scratches on him that would be consistent with a woman trying to fight him off.
And Winters said that the young woman told police that she stayed late at work in part to meet Bryant and that after giving the athlete a tour of the hotel, she expected him to "put a move" on her. She told police that the attack happened in his room after the two kissed.
Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert expressed his frustration with the tactics of the defense and hinted at a more substantial evidence to follow. "It is not my intent to try this case in the media, but rather to try this case before an Eagle County jury of 12."
If a trial is ordered by Judge Gannett it is expected to begin in May or June of 2004.
Bureau Report
Lawyers for Kobe Bryant asked a judge on Wednesday not to put the basketball star on trial for rape, saying his 19-year-old accuser was "not worthy of your belief" and that there was compelling evidence of his innocence But prosecutors argued that besides the woman`s graphic account of her ordeal to police, there was blood evidence and a bruise that pointed to rape and urged the judge in a preliminary hearing to bind the Los Angeles Lakers player over for trial. Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett ended a tense and graphic two-day preliminary hearing spread over two weeks by saying he would make a decision by Monday. Bryant has denied raping the woman, saying they had consensual sex. Bryant`s attorney, Pamela Mackey, said prosecutors failed to meet the probable cause burden of proof required at a preliminary hearing. "This is an extremely thin case based almost entirely on hearsay," she said, referring to the alleged victim not testifying and having her account instead given by a police detective.
Of the accuser, Mackey told the judge, "She is not worthy of your belief." But prosecutor Gregg Crittenden reminded the court that the judge had other testimony as well as photos and blood evidence. He insisted that this was not "a hearsay" case.
"He (Detective Doug Winters) saw underpants with blood on them. He saw three bloodstained smears on the defendant`s shirt. Those were tested and the results came back being the victim`s blood."
He added that a bruise found on the woman`s left jaw also collaborated her statement to police that she was raped by Bryant in the basketball star`s hotel room last June.
"He held her by the back of the neck with his hands during sexual intercourse. He pulled down her pants. She said no. He lifted her skirt. She said no. He bent her over and penetrated her from behind and she cried."
The lawyers spoke at the end of the hearing in which investigator Winters admitted under cross examination that semen and pubic hair belonging to someone other than Bryant was found in the underwear of the woman who accuses him of rape.
Defense lawyers said that discovery constituted compelling evidence of Bryant`s innocence. Mackey suggested during the hearing last week that vaginal injuries to the alleged victim were caused not by rape but by her having sex with three men in three days -- a reference to her sexual history that infuriated prosecutors.
The woman has told police that when she tried to leave Bryant`s hotel room after kissing him the 25-year-old NBA star grabbed her by the neck, bent her face-first over a chair, lifted her skirt, pulled down her underwear and raped her.
Winters said the woman told police that she had consensual sex on June 28, two days before her encounter with Bryant, and that her partner wore a condom.
The police detective, responding to questions from Mackey, also conceded that nurses who examined Bryant after he was accused of rape did not find bruises or scratches on him that would be consistent with a woman trying to fight him off.
And Winters said that the young woman told police that she stayed late at work in part to meet Bryant and that after giving the athlete a tour of the hotel, she expected him to "put a move" on her. She told police that the attack happened in his room after the two kissed.
Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert expressed his frustration with the tactics of the defense and hinted at a more substantial evidence to follow. "It is not my intent to try this case in the media, but rather to try this case before an Eagle County jury of 12."
If a trial is ordered by Judge Gannett it is expected to begin in May or June of 2004.
Bureau Report