Kobe Bryant's Lawyers Want Jury to Hear Alleged Mistakes

[Walter Cronkite]

Kobe Bryant is charged with felony sexual assault in Eagle, Colo.

Kobe Bryant's defense team said Wednesday it wants the judge to tell the NBA star's jury that investigators did not collect certain evidence that could have suggested he is innocent of rape.

In a court filing, Bryant's attorneys asked the judge to instruct jurors at the upcoming trial that the lost evidence, including bathroom towels and the contents of trash cans, could have cleared their client had it been collected.

Defense attorney Hal Haddon also criticized prosecutors for an "ongoing pattern and practice of failing to look for -- and obstructing the defense's access to -- exculpatory evidence in this case."

Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan declined comment, saying any response would be made in court.

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert has said Eagle County sheriff's detectives conducted a thorough investigation that produced enough evidence to support convicting Bryant of felony sexual assault.

Bryant, 25, has pleaded not guilty and said he had consensual sex with the 19-year-old resort worker in his hotel room last June. If convicted, the Los Angeles Lakers star faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation, and a fine of up to $750,000.

No trial date has been set, but both sides have suggested it could begin in August or September.

Haddon wrote that when detectives entered Bryant's hotel room, they did not execute a search warrant and the only pieces of evidence they collected were the clothes Bryant wore at the time of the alleged attack two days earlier.

The alleged victim told investigators she had been crying in the room, and that Bryant had forced her to go to the bathroom and clean herself up and wash her face before leaving.

Haddon said the detectives failed to preserve as evidence the chair on which the sexual act occurred, carpet under the chair and leading into the bathroom, bathroom towels, bed sheets, the contents of the sink drain traps from the bathroom and the contents of trash cans in the suite.

During Bryant's preliminary hearing, Detective Doug Winters said he didn't think it necessary to collect such evidence because he believed the alleged victim's story agreed in large part with Bryant's story.

But Haddon said the existence of such evidence could help jurors determine what happened.

Haddon has said prosecutors chose not to subpoena AT&T Wireless Communications Inc. for possibly exculpatory cell-phone text messages the alleged victim exchanged with a former boyfriend and another person shortly after her encounter with Bryant. He also has said prosecutors are making it difficult for the defense to observe or conduct DNA testing.

Also Wednesday, prosecutors told state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle why they failed to comply with his order that a defense expert be allowed to watch DNA testing at a Virginia laboratory.

Deputy prosecutor Dana Easter said prosecutors believe that Ruckriegle had only suggested a defense expert be present for the testing, but stopped short of ordering it.

She said prosecutors were willing to allow a defense expert to observe the testing but contend they have no legal obligation to do so.

Source: AP

[AndySMC]

I heard that they only found a small bruise on the lower left jawline of Kate Faber. Mackey claims it was yellowed in the photograph, and thus old. Michael Baden, according to motion filings, was supposed to refute the claim by Mackey. I suppose that means that not all yellow bruises are old, in one expert opinion, but Hurlbert failed to get his documentation into court on time, he was given a second chance by the judge, and it was supposed to be in on Monday, and it's starting to look like Hurlbert may have failed a second time.