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Kobe Bryant's attorneys want his accuser to testify at next month's hearing that will determine whether the NBA superstar will stand trial on a sexual assault charge.
Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon issued a subpoena to the 19-year-old Eagle woman to have her appear at the Oct. 9 preliminary hearing in Eagle County Court, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said Tuesday.
She said District Attorney Mark Hurlbert is talking with members of his team to determine whether to ask the judge to throw out that subpoena. Such a request would not be unusual, she said.
``If it were to happen, it would be pretty quickly,'' Flannigan said.
Neither Mackey and Haddon nor attorneys for the woman immediately returned calls for comment.
Bryant, 25, is charged with assaulting the woman, who worked at the mountain resort lodge where he stayed June 30. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has said the two had consensual sex.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors will present evidence and witnesses to try to convince Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett that Bryant might have committed the crime. If prosecutors meet that standard, Gannett would order a trial in state district court.
Bryant's attorneys have sought the accuser's medical records from the University of Northern Colorado's student health clinic, the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and the Eagle Valley Medical Center. The woman was treated earlier this year for mental health problems.
Mackey and Haddon have also issued subpoenas to the university, where the woman was a freshman last year. She has not returned to school this year. University officials would not say what records were turned over.
Prosecutors have asked the judge not to release the medical records, saying they could be used in an attempt to destroy the woman's credibility during the preliminary hearing.
In a court filing Monday, Hurlbert said the woman hasn't waived her medical privacy rights except in the case of records of an examination the day after the alleged attack.
Also Monday, Gannett banned cameras from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing. Court rules specifically prohibit video and still cameras at pretrial hearings in criminal cases except for initial advisements and arraignments, Gannett said.
Court TV, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post requested permission for cameras in the courtroom during the hearing. Court TV attorney Richard Holme declined comment and said the order cannot be appealed.
Gannett allowed courtroom cameras for Bryant's initial appearance last month, a seven-minute hearing where his attorneys waived his right to be formally advised of the felony sexual assault charge against him.
In its Aug. 6 request, Court TV said the nation will be focused on proceedings in the case.
``A principal means of preventing misreporting or misconstruction of the trial proceedings is to allow the unobtrusive presence of a television camera recording the proceedings,'' Holme wrote.
Bryant's attorneys and Hurlbert both argued against the cameras based on the same Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct rule cited by Gannett.
``At the preliminary hearing, many facts of the case will come out. The word-by-word reporting of those facts would greatly prejudice the victim and the defendant's right to fair trial,'' Hurlbert wrote in an Aug. 26 brief.
source: AP
Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon issued a subpoena to the 19-year-old Eagle woman to have her appear at the Oct. 9 preliminary hearing in Eagle County Court, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said Tuesday.
She said District Attorney Mark Hurlbert is talking with members of his team to determine whether to ask the judge to throw out that subpoena. Such a request would not be unusual, she said.
``If it were to happen, it would be pretty quickly,'' Flannigan said.
Neither Mackey and Haddon nor attorneys for the woman immediately returned calls for comment.
Bryant, 25, is charged with assaulting the woman, who worked at the mountain resort lodge where he stayed June 30. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has said the two had consensual sex.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors will present evidence and witnesses to try to convince Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett that Bryant might have committed the crime. If prosecutors meet that standard, Gannett would order a trial in state district court.
Bryant's attorneys have sought the accuser's medical records from the University of Northern Colorado's student health clinic, the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and the Eagle Valley Medical Center. The woman was treated earlier this year for mental health problems.
Mackey and Haddon have also issued subpoenas to the university, where the woman was a freshman last year. She has not returned to school this year. University officials would not say what records were turned over.
Prosecutors have asked the judge not to release the medical records, saying they could be used in an attempt to destroy the woman's credibility during the preliminary hearing.
In a court filing Monday, Hurlbert said the woman hasn't waived her medical privacy rights except in the case of records of an examination the day after the alleged attack.
Also Monday, Gannett banned cameras from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing. Court rules specifically prohibit video and still cameras at pretrial hearings in criminal cases except for initial advisements and arraignments, Gannett said.
Court TV, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post requested permission for cameras in the courtroom during the hearing. Court TV attorney Richard Holme declined comment and said the order cannot be appealed.
Gannett allowed courtroom cameras for Bryant's initial appearance last month, a seven-minute hearing where his attorneys waived his right to be formally advised of the felony sexual assault charge against him.
In its Aug. 6 request, Court TV said the nation will be focused on proceedings in the case.
``A principal means of preventing misreporting or misconstruction of the trial proceedings is to allow the unobtrusive presence of a television camera recording the proceedings,'' Holme wrote.
Bryant's attorneys and Hurlbert both argued against the cameras based on the same Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct rule cited by Gannett.
``At the preliminary hearing, many facts of the case will come out. The word-by-word reporting of those facts would greatly prejudice the victim and the defendant's right to fair trial,'' Hurlbert wrote in an Aug. 26 brief.
source: AP
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