Bryant’s accuser asks for speedy trial date

EAGLE, Colo. _ The mother of the woman who has accused Lakers

guard Kobe Bryant of sexual assault wrote an emotional letter to

the judge in the case, pleading with the court to set a trial date

as soon as possible.

“Her life is on hold and her safety is in jeopardy until this

case is over,” the mother wrote in the 400-word letter

released as part of a court filing Thursday while the pretrial

hearing continued at the Eagle County Justice Center.

The correspondence is the first statement from the family of the

19-year-old accuser since the case began.

Since accusing Bryant of the June 30 sexual assault at the Lodge

and Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, the woman has been hounded by the

media and defense-team investigators, received hundreds of death

threats and thousands of obscene messages, and has been forced to

live in four states since October, the mother wrote.

“No one else involved in this case has had to make the life

changes and compromises that my daughter has had to make and will

need to continue to make until this case is over. Even the

defendant is able to continue living in his home and continue with

his employment,” the letter said.

No trial date has been set and pretrial hearings are scheduled well

into May.

Bryant, 25, returned to Eagle for the 7 a.m. PST court session

Thursday via private jet from Los Angeles, where he scored 36

points in the Lakers’ 115-91 victory over Sacramento on

Wednesday night.

Bryant claims he had consensual sex with the woman who had worked

as a front-desk agent at the Cordillera. He has yet to enter a plea

on the felony charge. If convicted he faces four years to life in

prison or 20 years to life on probation.

The court filing, which referenced the letter, came from the

accuser’s attorney John Clune. Clune urged state District

Judge Terry Ruckriegle to bring a “swift resolution” to

this case in “the interest of the victim’s safety and

to prevent even further harm as a consequence of reporting criminal

conduct.”

Clune cited the Victim Rights Act that guarantees the woman a

“swift and fair resolution” and referenced another

statute that “an unlawful sexual offense shall take

precedence” so “the court shall hear these cases as

soon as possible.”

“This is a very persuasive and genuine letter that will leave

people saying, `Why would this woman go through this hell if she

weren’t telling the truth,” Denver attorney Norm Early

said.

But Denver criminal defense attorney Craig Silverman believes Clune

is misrepresenting or misreading the Colorado law regarding the

precedence that “unlawful sexual offenses” should take,

saying that the provision applies only to crimes against children,

not adults.

“This sounds like an attempt to embarrass the judge on his

knowledge of the law,” Silverman said. “That’s

not the way to get your way in the case.”

Silverman and other analysts considered the timing of Clune’s

court filing, which came a day after the accuser testified in court

for the first time. “This letter might also be the first sign

of retreating,” Silverman said.

The woman opened testimony Wednesday and was questioned about her

sexual past, information Bryant’s attorneys want admitted at

trial. If allowed, that would be an exception to the rape shield

that presumes an accuser’s sexual history to be

irrelevant.

Defense lawyers Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon believe the woman had

at least one sexual encounter with another partner around June 30.

They claim that encounter could have aggravated or caused the

woman’s alleged genital-area injuries.

Two former female roommates of the woman, two young unidentified

men and the Cordillera bellman who the defense believes has a

sexual relationship with the woman followed the accuser on the

witness stand Wednesday.

Matt Herr, the woman’s former longtime boyfriend at Eagle

Valley Senior High, testified for 75 minutes as the rape-shield

hearing resumed Thursday. It will be continued April 26.

“The letter comes out the day after the prosecution learned

what she (the accuser) says on the stand and what all those

witnesses say about her sexual history. Maybe there were some

inconsistencies,” Silverman speculated.

“This letter about the tough toll this case is talking on her

life might be the beginning of the gentle exit strategy.”

The remainder of Thursday’s court proceedings involved the

defense’s motion to suppress the 75 minutes of statements

Bryant made to police July 2 and the physical evidence collected as

a result of those statements.

Rich Sanders, a University of Colorado at Denver music professor

and the defense’s expert in acoustic forensics, was in the

courtroom for five hours along with Eagle County Sheriff’s

Office Detective Daniel Loya. Sanders previously analyzed the

sounds of explosions in the Oklahoma City bombing, 911 telephone

recordings from the Columbine shooting and evidence in the Jon

Benet Ramsey case.

Loya is believed to have played for the court the tape from the

microcassette recorder he concealed in a front shirt pocket during

an early morning interview of Bryant at the Cordillera on July

2.

The 60-minute recording contained unexplained clicking noises,

pauses and unclear voices throughout, which the defense claims

makes the tape suspect.

The suppression hearing will resume April 2.Bryant, who remains

free on $25,000 bond, is due to appear in court on April 2.

Marcia C. Smith
The Orange County Register
(KRT)

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