PR Is Key for Kobe Bryant

Aug. 7 -- In a case like the one Kobe Bryant is facing, legal strategy and public relations strategy are essentially one and the same.

"There's really no separation in a case like this where there's a tremendous amount of public knowledge of an accused before the case starts, and a lot of public interest," said Bill Moffitt, a defense attorney.

Bryant made his first court appearance Wednesday in Eagle, Colo., on a sexual assault charge. He is accused of raping a 19-year-old woman on June 30. Bryant, who is married and has a baby daughter, says he committed adultery with the woman but insists the sex was consensual.

Standing quietly between his attorneys, the NBA superstar only spoke once during the seven-minute hearing. When the judge asked if he objected to giving up his right to have the preliminary hearing held within 30 days, he answered, "No sir." The preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 9.

Is Silence Golden?

Bryant was met by cheers from a group of supporters as he entered and left the courthouse, but defense attorneys say Bryant's public relations track record is mixed.

On July 18, hours after a Colorado prosecutor said he was charging Bryant with one count of felony sexual assault, the NBA All-Star held a news conference in which he declared his innocence.

Choking back tears, and in a quivering voice, he praised his wife, Vanessa, who appeared at the news conference with him. "I'm innocent," he said. "I sit here in front of you guys furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making a mistake of adultery."

That makes sense, the attorneys say, but Bryant's appearance earlier this week in front of paparazzi at a teen awards show may not.

On Monday, Bryant appeared at the 2003 Teen Choice Awards, in Universal City, Calif., where he was picked as the favorite male athlete. Accepting the award, he paraphrased Martin Luther King Jr., saying, "An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere."

"Kobe Bryant is an athlete, he's a sports figure. He's not a civil rights person. And I'm not sure that that's the way I would have marketed him in that instance," Moffitt said.