Posted data about Bryant case spurs uproar
DENVER – Swabs taken from Kobe Bryant during a hospital exam found DNA from the NBA star and the woman accusing him of rape, but none from an unidentified person whose DNA showed up on other evidence in the case, the judge said in a sealed filing mistakenly posted Wednesday on a court Web site.
The defense wants to present evidence from the exam to jurors, perhaps to bolster its claim that the accuser had sex with other men during the week of her encounter with Bryant. In his filing, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle said the prosecution does not intend to introduce the same details and he ordered both sides to come up with an agreement by Friday.
Bryant’s attorneys have said they believe the woman had multiple sex partners in the three days before her hospital exam last summer, including one after her encounter with Bryant and before she contacted authorities. Her attorney has denied that claim.
The order, which included the accuser’s name, appeared on a Web site where public filings are posted as a convenience to court staff and media. The Web site was shut down for about three hours to remove the document.
State courts spokeswoman Karen Salaz said the mistake stemmed from a new posting procedure and that a clerk chose the wrong document to post without a “critical safeguard” in place. The state court administrator plans to apologize to the alleged victim and her family and is weighing unspecified actions involving staff, Salaz said.
The accidental posting was the latest in a string of mistakes that the accuser’s attorney, John Clune, has said prompted her to consider ending her participation in the case.
“It is inconceivable how this court can explain its continual pattern of revictimizing this 20-year-old girl,” Clune said in a written statement Wednesday. “This judge must learn that the trust that a victim places in the judiciary is the foundation for the courage that all victims must have to endure the brutal nature of rape prosecutions.”
Clune declined to comment about his client’s resolve to continue her involvement in the case.
In September, the accuser’s name was included in another filing posted on the Web site. Last fall, the Glenwood Springs hospital where she and Bryant were examined accidentally turned over her medical records to lawyers in the case.
In late June, a court reporter accidentally e-mailed to the Associated Press and six other media groups transcripts of a closed-door hearing that dealt with aspects of the accuser’s sex life and money she received from a state victims’ compensation fund.
Ruckriegle has threatened a contempt of court citation for any news organization that publishes details from the transcripts. None has done so, but media attorneys have challenged his order as an unconstitutional restraint of a free press.
The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the order, saying the state’s vital interest in protecting the woman’s privacy and Bryant’s right to a fair trial outweigh the media’s First Amendment rights. On Monday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer refused to overturn Ruckriegle’s order but suggested he release an edited version, if not the entire transcript.
Ruckriegle is expected to talk with attorneys in the case during a hearing Friday about what information should be redacted before the documents are released.
Clune has asked Ruckriegle to halt use of the Internet and e-mail to distribute information about the case. The judge has not yet ruled on the request.
Bryant, 25, has pleaded not guilty to felony sexual assault, saying he had consensual sex with a 19-year-old employee of the Vail-area resort where he stayed last summer. If convicted, the Los Angeles Lakers star faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation, and a fine up to $750,000.