Kobe Bryant: The Game of His Life
by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

It was bound to happen. A former tabloid journalist was bound to write a book claiming inside details of the Kobe Bryant case. The book is by former Globe reporter Jeff Shapiro, who also wrote about the JonBenet Ramsey case.

Shapiro will be giving away his book Monday to journalists at the courthouse in Eagle, the next scheduled hearing date.

The book boasts interviews with the accuser. If she did speak with the Shapiro, we think the defense will have more support for their argument that she waived her privilege of confidentiality in her medical records.

Other purported book revelations:

• Whose DNA was detected in the woman's underwear the day she had her rape exam. Court testimony has revealed it was from someone other than Bryant.

• The story behind the implication by Bryant attorney Pamela Mackey that the accuser had had sex with three men in three days.

• What Bryant, 25, said in his first police interview the night after the alleged rape, when officers spoke with him for 75 minutes but didn't tell him they were tape-recording the conversation. The defense wants Bryant's statements thrown out, but they're said to be crucial to the prosecution's case.

Shapiro is now a law student in Florida. He says that after graduating, "he hopes to establish a foundation to help people fight back when they feel they've been victimized by tabloid tactics."

Need we say more?

The race issue surfaced today during a pre-trial motions hearing in the Kobe Bryant Case. At issue are notes taken by an employee of the rape crisis center who was present during a police interview with Kobe's accuser.

The rape center opposes the release because it might deter other women from coming forward--the center's attorney used the acquittal of William Kennedy Smith in a 1993 Palm Beach sexual assault trial to support its argument.

Kobe's lawyer, Pamela Mackey, quite correctly in our view, asked the judge not to consider other cases and to decide the issue based on Kobe's case.

Inga Causey, attorney for the Resource Center of Eagle County, said more details about Bryant's accuser would lead to fewer women reporting rapes. She said rape reports dropped in Florida after William Kennedy Smith was acquitted, a case in which his accuser's medical background was targeted by defense attorneys.

At that point, Mackey urged the judge to focus on the Bryant case and avoid the "political agenda of the rape crisis center."

"There is lots of history about black men being falsely accused of this crime by white women," Mackey said. "I don't think we want to get dragged down into this history any more than we want to get into the history brought up by the rape crisis center."

We'll be debating the case tonight on Fox News with Hannity and Colmes around 9:30 p. ET.

A new defense filing (pdf) in the Kobe Bryant case says that Kobe's accuser is bi-polar and the jury needs to know this:

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depressive illness. It is characterized by movement between extremes, such as euphoria and depression, and can be a serious and disabling mental illness.

The documents say the accuser's medical and mental history may demonstrate her "motive, scheme, plan and modus operandi for falsely accusing Mr. Bryant of sexual assault" and should also be considered as a jury determines her credibility.

How so?

Kobe Bryant wasted no time --as soon as his court hearing in Eagle was over, he was off to LA where he opened the second quarter of the Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets:

Kobe Bryant didn't arrive back from a court hearing in Colorado in time for tipoff against the Denver Nuggets, but he started the second quarter. Bryant spent the day in Eagle, Colo., for a motions hearing involving his sexual assault case.

About 35 minutes after tipoff, he walked to the bench wearing his warmups, bounced on his toes and stretched his legs. Fans shouted his name and cheered. Bryant bumped fists with the scoring crew and walked on the court to start the second quarter.

No big news in the case today as the Judge put evidentiary issues off until January--except for the embarassing announcement by the DA that his office got two of the anti-Kobe t-shirts that made the news last month.

Defense attorney Pamela Mackey called the shirts inflammatory and derogatory and said they've been characterized as racist and "evocative of (a Ku Klux) Klan lynching."

....In an embarrassing admission, Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said someone in his office ordered the shirts and that he and chief deputy prosecutor Greg Crittenden were each given one by "an unknown source."

Hurlbert said he immediately destroyed his shirt, but Crittenden held on to his until Thursday. Neither wore the shirts, he said. Even Hurlbert supporters said his office goofed up.

Update: Our view of the t-shirt issue, as reported by the press November 6:

Mental health and medical records of the accuser in the Kobe Bryant case are likely to be the focus of today's hearing :

In their boldest move to cast doubt upon the credibility of the woman, the defense attorneys have asked District Court Judge Terry Ruckriegle to admit into evidence the woman's Feb. 23 and May 30 suicide attempts and prescribed anti-psychotic drug treatment. "The purported suicide attempts are highly relevant to establish the accuser's motive, scheme, plan and modus operandi of creating drama in her life in order to get attention," Mackey wrote.

Mackey also wrote that the accusations against Bryant were a continuation of woman's "pattern of engaging in extreme, dangerous, attention-seeking behavior without regard to its effects on those around her. Her behavior and treatment with an anti-psychotic drug also make it more probable that she is not to be believed."

Victims advocacy groups are upset by the motions. We're not:

Veteran Denver criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt backed Mackey and Haddon's strategy.

"They are not abusing the process but using creative and solid lawyering," Merritt said. "Her credibility is relevant. They are using the facts to explain why this woman might have made up this story. They are doing everything they can for their client."

Although, a lot of today's hearing may take place behind closed doors due to the sensitive nature of much of the evidence being fought over, the media will be out in force and reports should be plentiful.

Update: The Judge denied the Prosecution's motion for an investigation into media leaks.

Kobe Bryant filed his pre-trial motions today. He is seeking to introduce evidence of his accuser's two purported suicide attempts and of her being prescribed anti-psychotic medication (pdf format). He is also challenging the constitutionality of the rape shield law(pdf format)--on it's face--because the standard for admitting prior bad acts of the accuser is higher than that provided for admitting prior bad acts of the defendant. You can access and read the motions at the court's website here. Note that all pleadings are in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

The defense motion characterizes her as an extreme attention seeker and says her suicide attempts were done to gain the attention of her former boyfriend.

"The purported suicide attempts are extreme attention-seeking behavior that illustrate the accuser's ulteriour motives, scheme and plan to engage in dramatic acts in order to draw attention to herself--even when these acts are extremely harmful to herself and others.

We think the issue of anti-psychotic medication is very relevant to the accuser's credibility. Was she on the medication at the time of the incident with Kobe? Had she abruptedly stopped taking it? Did it skew her perceptions? Did it cause her to distort reality? Did it render her in denial?

Kobe is facing life in prison over this charge. We think he has the right to bring out information that shows the accuser has a motive, history or propensity for lying or that her emotional instablility may have resulted in her fabricating the rape charge.

Update: The AP reports on the motions. Kobe's lawyers are moving to keep his t-shirt (which reportedly had some of the accuser's blood on it) out of evidence:

The defense said the T-shirt should not have been taken as evidence because Bryant was wearing it during the search, and the warrant authorized them to take only items from the room, not his person.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle made the right ruling today in the Kobe Bryant case. He denied a prosecution request to have both parties file all motions pertaining to evidence in the case under seal. We wrote a few weeks ago when the DA filed the motion,

The prosecution is seeking to have all future pleadings in the case that refer to evidence in the case filed under seal. This is wrong, and there is a much fairer way to accomplish the goal. Each side should file two versions of any pleading containing information that shoud not be made public--one of which is the entire pleading, filed under seal, and the other is a redacted version for the public, with just the sensitive material deleted and so noted. This was done in the Oklahoma bombing trials and it worked well.

To seal all evidentiary pleadings in their entirety is contrary to the public's right to know and the First Amendment.

That's exactly what the Judge ordered today:

...Judge Terry Ruckriegle said, attorneys in the case can file motions about Bryant and his accuser that leave sensitive details to be filed separately under seal. The judge urged attorneys to make sealed filings "sparingly and wisely" and he chided the prosecution for citing "no legal authority" to seal all details of evidence.

In other Kobe news, the defense filed a motion today asking the Court to order the DA to investigate whether any "hangman t-shirts" were ordered by the Sheriff's department, and if so, how many. Kobe attorney Pamela Mackey stated in the motion that the Sheriff's office refused to supply the information to the defense, and that the information is relevant to show the bias of the investigating agencies. She also stated that the t-shirts had been described as "racist and 'invocative of Klan lynching and wholly inappropriate in modern society."

The defense in the Kobe Bryant case denies leaking information about the accuser to a retired judge as previously reported.

This troubles us: The prosecution is seeking to have all future pleadings in the case that refer to evidence in the case filed under seal. This is wrong, and there is a much fairer way to accomplish the goal. Each side should file two versions of any pleading containing information that shoud not be made public--one of which is the entire pleading, filed under seal, and the other is a redacted version for the public, with just the sensitive material deleted and so noted. This was done in the Oklahoma bombing trials and it worked well.

To seal all evidentiary pleadings in their entirety is contrary to the public's right to know and the First Amendment. We hope the media lawyers get right on opposing it.

In other Kobe case news, the new issue of the Globe will not only be running the accuser's picture again, but making an explosive allegation that she had sex with a certain prosecution witness who is critical to the prosecution's case not long before the incident with Kobe.

All Kobe pleadings are available at the court's website here. Read them while you still can.

Kobe Bryant appeared in court today in Eagle County. He did not enter a plea. No trial date was set but two motions hearings were scheduled:

Ruckriegle set a pretrial hearing for Dec. 19 to consider motions by the attorneys and another for Jan. 23 to settle various disputes, including whether records from an Eagle-area rape crisis center should be given to the defense.

Trial mostly likely will occur after the end of the NBA season.

The new issue of Newsweek has an excellent profile on Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon, Kobe Bryant's defense counsel. Some quotes from lawyers who know them:

“Pam is always on the attack for her client, not on defense,” says attorney Larry Pozner. Despite the tailored suits and piercing interrogations, Mackey, 47, bucks the stereotype of the ruthless, high-paid defense attorney. She represented indigent clients in the public defender’s office: “Pam had an incredible dedication to people who had nothing, who were nobody,” says Mark Johnson, her former boss there.

.... How nasty a fight are Mackey and Haddon prepared to wage? “I think she will attack [Kobe’s accuser’s] story , as opposed to her character ,” says Jeralyn Merritt, a defense lawyer. “She’s not mean-spirited.”

The new issue of Newsweek has an excellent profile on Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon, Kobe Bryant's defense counsel. Some quotes from lawyers who know them:

“Pam is always on the attack for her client, not on defense,” says attorney Larry Pozner. Despite the tailored suits and piercing interrogations, Mackey, 47, bucks the stereotype of the ruthless, high-paid defense attorney. She represented indigent clients in the public defender’s office: “Pam had an incredible dedication to people who had nothing, who were nobody,” says Mark Johnson, her former boss there.

.... How nasty a fight are Mackey and Haddon prepared to wage? “I think she will attack [Kobe’s accuser’s] story , as opposed to her character ,” says Jeralyn Merritt, a defense lawyer. “She’s not mean-spirited.”

The prosecution in the Kobe Bryant case has filed a motion accusing the defense of leaking details of the semen found on the accuser's underwear that did not match Kobe Bryant. The origninal news article publishing the details is here.

The source of the information, a retired Colorado Judge, has stated that the reporter mis-stated his comments and that he (the Judge) has not spoken with defense attorney Hal Haddon in ten years. The prosecution alleges the Judge is lying, but does not set forth facts to support the allegation--other than that the reporter says he got the quote right. Also, there is no time frame for the alleged statement from Haddon to Retired Judge Jones. What basis does the prosecution have for alleging the comment, if made, was made after the July 24 Order limiting extra-judicial comments? And what evidence does it have that if the statement was made by a member of the defense team or someone associated with it, that the statement was not made in confidence rather than intended for dissemination?

In other Kobe news, now that the Kobe Bryant case has been transferred from county court to district court, a new judge will be taking over. There are 22 districts in Colorado. Each district is made up of one or more counties. In districts with multiple counties, the counties are within close geographic proximity to each other. The Fifth judicial district includes Eagle, Clear Creek, Lake and Summit Counties. Each district has a chief judge. In the 5th District, the chief Judge is Terry Ruckriegle of Summit County (Breckenridge and Georgeown).

In the ordinary case, a district court judge from Eagle would preside over Kobe Bryant's trial. That would be Judge Richard Hart or Thomas Moorhead.

It was announced today that Fifth District chief Judge Terry Ruckriegle will preside over the Kobe trial. The Eagle county district court judges are being bypassed.

Does Ruckriegle intend to grant a change of venue to Breckenridge? In a locally high profile murder trial last year, Ruckriegle moved the trial from Breckenridge to Eagle and presided over the trial there.