Let her speak

Bryant's attorneys seek to have alleged victim testify at hearing

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EAGLE, Colo. (AP) -- Kobe Bryant's attorneys want his accuser to testify at a hearing next month 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 prosecutors were discussing 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 returned calls for comment. Dan Recht, past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said judges tend to side with prosecutors who ask to prevent an alleged victim from testifying at a preliminary hearing.

"They don't want to subject her to cross-examination if they don't have to," he said. "In part because it's a traumatic experience and in part because it's strategic: they don't want to subject their star witness to cross-examination before the trial."

Defense attorneys could use any discrepancies between her testimony at the preliminary hearing and the trial to attack her credibility, former Denver District Attorney Norm Early said.

"They would make them look like huge discrepancies. The fewer versions that are given, the fewer difficulties you would encounter at a trial," he said. "The only real reason for the defense calling a victim is if the victim is recanting the story and they're the only ones who know it. That situation never arises."

Bryant, 25, is charged with assaulting an employee at the mountain resort lodge where he stayed June 30. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has said the two had consensual sex.

Bryant's attorneys are pursuing an aggressive strategy that most defendants cannot afford, said Lawrence Goldman, a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"Yes, it's aggressive; yes, it's hard; yes, it's tough; yes, it's horrible. But it's exactly what they should be doing," he said.

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 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, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said the woman hadn't waived her medical privacy rights except in the case of records of an examination conducted the day after the alleged attack.

Also Monday, Gannett banned cameras from the courtroom during the preliminary hearing. Court TV, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post had sought permission for cameras in the courtroom. Court TV attorney Richard Holme said the order cannot be appealed.