Tweet
Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case returned to closed hearings Tuesday while a judge decides whether the sexual history of the NBA star's accuser can be used against her at trial.
More than two dozen witnesses -- including the 19-year-old woman's friends, former boyfriends and college roommates -- have testified in closed hearings this spring after being called by attorneys for the Los Angeles Lakers' guard. Nine defense witnesses testified in private Monday.
Prosecutors were expected to call their own witnesses Tuesday. Witness lists are sealed, but in a court filing Monday prosecutors said they would present their side once the defense is finished.
State District Judge Terry Ruckriegle also was expected to resume a hearing on another key issue: whether certain evidence should be thrown out because it was gathered illegally.
Bryant's attorneys argue that investigators improperly questioned him and improperly executed a search warrant. Prosecutors say he voluntarily spoke with investigators and handed over evidence, including a T-shirt stained with the woman's blood and a rape kit performed on Bryant.
Among the witnesses who testified Monday were Johnray Strickland, a former boyfriend who met the alleged victim last year at the University of Northern Colorado, and Eagle County sheriff's Detective Doug Winters.
The defense says injuries found on the woman could have been caused by sex with multiple partners before and after her encounter with Bryant. The prosecution says the sexual history is irrelevant in determining whether the woman was assaulted.
"If they can put on credible evidence that she had sex after Kobe Bryant and before she went to the cops, I'm not sure we're even going to have a trial,'' said Craig Silverman, a former prosecutor who is following the case. "That one fact alone would cause reasonable doubt for one or more of the jurors.''
The woman's attorney, John Clune, has denied that she had sex with anyone in the hours after her encounter with Bryant.
Bryant, 25, has said he had consensual sex with the woman last June at the Vail-area resort where she worked. If convicted of felony sexual assault, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.
Ruckriegle already has barred defense access to the woman's medical records, though experts say witnesses most likely will be called to discuss her purported suicide attempts and anti-depressant use.
Ruckriegle has said he would like to hear arguments on other topics Wednesday, including requests by the alleged victim and prosecutors to get a formal plea and trial date.
Source: AP
More than two dozen witnesses -- including the 19-year-old woman's friends, former boyfriends and college roommates -- have testified in closed hearings this spring after being called by attorneys for the Los Angeles Lakers' guard. Nine defense witnesses testified in private Monday.
Prosecutors were expected to call their own witnesses Tuesday. Witness lists are sealed, but in a court filing Monday prosecutors said they would present their side once the defense is finished.
State District Judge Terry Ruckriegle also was expected to resume a hearing on another key issue: whether certain evidence should be thrown out because it was gathered illegally.
Bryant's attorneys argue that investigators improperly questioned him and improperly executed a search warrant. Prosecutors say he voluntarily spoke with investigators and handed over evidence, including a T-shirt stained with the woman's blood and a rape kit performed on Bryant.
Among the witnesses who testified Monday were Johnray Strickland, a former boyfriend who met the alleged victim last year at the University of Northern Colorado, and Eagle County sheriff's Detective Doug Winters.
The defense says injuries found on the woman could have been caused by sex with multiple partners before and after her encounter with Bryant. The prosecution says the sexual history is irrelevant in determining whether the woman was assaulted.
"If they can put on credible evidence that she had sex after Kobe Bryant and before she went to the cops, I'm not sure we're even going to have a trial,'' said Craig Silverman, a former prosecutor who is following the case. "That one fact alone would cause reasonable doubt for one or more of the jurors.''
The woman's attorney, John Clune, has denied that she had sex with anyone in the hours after her encounter with Bryant.
Bryant, 25, has said he had consensual sex with the woman last June at the Vail-area resort where she worked. If convicted of felony sexual assault, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.
Ruckriegle already has barred defense access to the woman's medical records, though experts say witnesses most likely will be called to discuss her purported suicide attempts and anti-depressant use.
Ruckriegle has said he would like to hear arguments on other topics Wednesday, including requests by the alleged victim and prosecutors to get a formal plea and trial date.
Source: AP