Bryant Alleged Victim's Lawyers Speak Out

Aug. 4, 2004 -- Lawyers for the alleged sexual assault victim of Kobe Bryant say she may have to reconsider testifying against the NBA star at the criminal trial, in the wake of a series of damaging court mistakes that led to her name repeatedly being made public, along with allegations about her sexual history.

In their first television interview, John Clune and Lin Wood, the attorneys representing Bryant's alleged victim, told Good Morning America that repeated accidental releases of their client's name by Colorado's Eagle County Court violated the woman's privacy and made it impossible for her to respond to allegations the defense has made about her.

Last week, a clerk mistakenly posted a sealed document on the court's Web site that showed the alleged victim's name and said that there was a suggestion that DNA found on the woman did not belong to Bryant or to her but to a third party. An expert witness suggested in this document from a closed June hearing that the alleged victim had sex with someone after her encounter with by Bryant. Clune has vehemently denied the allegations.

It was the third time the court had accidentally posted sealed court documents in the Bryant case. The court released 200 pages from the hearing on Monday. Judge Terry Ruckriegle, who will preside over the trial set to begin Aug. 27, apologized to the alleged victim and her family.

But her lawyers said the apology helps very little. A gag order prevents the alleged victim from responding fully to the defense insinuations and accusations made public by the accidental postings.

The alleged victim's lawyers say she now has to consider whether she will be treated fairly by jurors in a criminal trial against Bryant. When asked whether she would testify at trial, one lawyer said she may be better off pursuing justice in a civil lawsuit.

"She's obviously got to rethink what she's going to do," said Lin Wood. "This young girl for over a year has stood up with resolve and with courage, despite the fact that her reputation has been smeared, her privacy has been invaded. … Now, three weeks before the trial, you have a defense paid expert's testimony released, she has to look at this and wonder whether she can be treated fairly in the criminal justice system."

Wood argued the criminal justice system has failed to protect the alleged victim. In a civil lawsuit, however, Wood added, Kobe Bryant's own history would at least be under equal scrutiny.

"The object of the criminal justice system is the same as the civil system," Wood said. "It's to search for the truth. … I think she'll get a level playing field in a civil case where Kobe Bryant will be examined and cross-examined, where details of his life can be scrutinized like her life has been scrutinized over the past year."

Alleged Victim Prevented From Responding

Bryant, 25, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault for allegedly attacking the woman last June while he stayed at a Vail, Colo., resort where she worked last year. The Los Angeles Lakers star admits he had sex with the 20-year-old, but insists it was consensual.

Judge Ruckriegle has ruled Bryant's defense can present evidence at trial about the alleged victim's sexual activity in the three days before her exam on July 1, 2003, saying it is relevant to determining the source of the DNA evidence, the cause of her injuries and her credibility.

In pretrial testimony, the alleged victim denied having sex with anyone in the days following the incident with Bryant. But because of a court order she cannot respond to the allegations that have been accidently leaked by the court.

"First of all, she did not [have sex after the alleged Bryant attack]," said attorney Clune. "That's something she has testified to and that we have stated previously. The difficulty about the question shows the magnitude of the harm from the judge's mistake. We are not able to respond to those questions because of the order regarding pretrial publicity. What we have now is on the eve of trial, just over three weeks prior to trial, you have this evidence that nobody is allowed to respond to."

Potential Chilling Effect on Victims

Clune and Wood appeared on Good Morning America as a new report emerged that prosecutors planned to subpoena a Florida waitress who claims Bryant made unwanted advances toward her at a private party at Shaquille O'Neal's home in Thanksgiving 2002.

Wood said he had heard the report and that a civil lawsuit would explore whether Bryant has a history of making unwanted advances toward women.

"The part of the civil system that levels the playing field is the question of whether this has been done before, whether there's a pattern on the part of Kobe Bryant, that can be explored in a civil case," Wood said.

However, Wood feared the rulings in the criminal case against his client and repeated mistakes made by the Eagle County Court would prevent sexual assault victims from coming forward.

"The net effect is to say they've literally rewritten the law of rape," Wood said. "To say that 'Unless you're a virgin, keep it to yourself. Don't come forward, deal with it yourself.' … That's not the right message to send to women around this country and to other young girls who might find themselves victims of rape, particularly date rape and acquaintance rape."

If convicted of felony sexual assault, Kobe Bryant faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation and a fine up to $750,000.