Here's the latest on the alleged murder for hire plot in the Kobe Bryant case, including a rare public statement by Kobe's lawyers.

Bryant’s attorneys made a rare public appearance Thursday night. They wanted to emphasize that the threatening letter was sent to the Lakers, who gave it to Bryant. Bryant and his security alerted the L.A. County sheriff’s department. ...During the tape-recorded conversation which the L.A. sheriff's department recorded, this gentleman repeated his offer to make the problem go away for three million dollars,” Bryant attorney Hal Haddon said.

“This atmosphere not only threatens Mr. Bryant, threatens his lawyers, threatens the accuser, but it threatens the fundamental right of a fair trial before an impartial jury,” Haddon added.

“Our concern about this is that this is not only going to create a side show, but that this is going to create a wave of sympathy that is going to prevent us from having an impartial jury who will simply judge the allegations on their facts.” Haddon said.

They are in a bizarre and difficult situation. They have repeatedly said they do not want to try the case in the media. They have declined interviews, but felt this time it was important to explain publicly what happened. “He is outraged of the making of these kinds of threats and these offers are made. He's afraid for his family. His first reaction was that he was terribly afraid for his family and he wanted to leave his house and he's also very concerned that he can't get a fair trial in this atmosphere,” Haddon said.

We are scheduled to discuss this and other new developments in the case tonight on Hannity and Colmes and tomorrow night on Rivera at Large (always subject to change due to breaking news events.)

Update: There's breaking news in the Laci Peterson case. We'll be talking about Kobe on Rivera Sunday night instead of tonight.

A California man allegedly offered to kill the accuser in the Kobe Bryant case for $1 million up front and $2 million after the deed was done. He wrote to Kobe's security staff who contacted the sheriff's deaprtment. An undercover operation ensued and the purported hit man, a 31 year old who represented himself to be a member of the Russian mob, was arrested. He is being held on charges of solicitation to commit murder.

In other Kobe news, the Pitkin County Sheriff has completed his court-ordered investigation into law enforcment leaks in the case. His conclusion: No wrongdoing by anyone subject to the gag order. So, perhaps the leaks occurred before the gag order. More likely, the leaks turned out to be unsubstantiated rumors rather than true facts obtained from sealed documents or reports in the case. In any event, we're satisfied. We know the Pitkin County Sheriff and think quite highly of him.

Kobe Bryant's lawyers are not yielding in their effort to have his accuser take the stand at his October 9 preliminary hearing. Nor are they letting up in their demand for her medical records.

In a pleading filed yesterday, Kobe's lawyers argue:

"These records are sought prior to the preliminary hearing because it is believed, based on law enforcement reports and other information in the possession of the defense, that the records will contain information important to the court's assessment of the accuser's credibility."

The defense motion to close the preliminary hearing to the public is here.

We think the defendant's right to a fair trial trumps the media's right to access. If the accuser is not going to testify at the preliminary hearing, then her videotaped interview of what happened should be excluded from consideration -- or the hearing should be closed to public access. If the defense can't cross-examine the accuser on the details of the interview, her statements haven't been tested for truth. That is what cross-examination is all about. It has been described as the greatest legal engine ever invented for ferreting out untruths in the courtroom. While the rules of evidence are relaxed at a preliminary hearing, Colorado courts caution against excessive use of hearsay.

The defense says they need her medical records from her prior forced hospitalization (one that resulted from a determination that she was a danger to herself) to establish her lack of credibility and the implausibility of her testimony. That's a tough sell, but technically, they are right. A judge can toss the charges at a preliminary hearing if he or she finds the accuser's testimony to be incredible or implausible as a matter of law. It's more than which person to believe though--it really would have to be that her testimony was simply not believable at all.

We think the motion to close the preliminary hearing is a stronger one. The Constitution says trials are open to the public--not pre-trial proceedings. In a case such as this, where evidence will be introduced that may not be admissible at trial, in light of the massive media interest in reporting and analyzing every nuance of the case, the only way to preserve Kobe's right to a fair trial by an impartial jury is to close the hearing.

We don't know what time this airs in your area today, but it was a lot of fun to do and we think it has a good mix of the legal and social justice issues involved in the Kobe Bryant case. The promo is here.

The Judge in the Kobe Bryant case has ruled that cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom for Kobe's preliminary hearing.

Colorado rules do not allow cameras in the courtroom during pre-trial proceedings, other than at the advisement and arraignment.

The best part of the decision is that the Judge based his ruling on the Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct --which means it cannot be appealed.

Preliminary hearings are conducted under relaxed rules of evidence and prior to suppression hearings. They are loaded with hearsay evidence and evidence that may not be admissible at trial. We think it is incredibly prejudicial to the defendant to televise such a hearing.

The DA also opposed the cameras, arguing it would be unfair to both the accuser and Kobe.

The Associated Press reports that race may become an issue in the Kobe Bryant case. Polls already show more blacks are sympathetic to his plight than whites. And many compare Kobe's case to OJ Simpson's--in which the vast majority of people think OJ got away with murder.

Two CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls conducted in late July and early August found that 63 percent of blacks surveyed felt sympathetic to Bryant, compared to 40 percent of whites. About 68 percent of blacks said the charges of sexual assault are not true, but only 41 percent of whites said the same.

....Both blacks and whites mentioned O.J. Simpson, whose acquittal at his criminal trial for the 1994 deaths of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman divided the groups. Most whites concluded the verdict was wrong, while most blacks favored it.

Bryant and others, including Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, have been viewed as athletes first and black men second, said Tony N. Brown, assistant sociology professor at Vanderbilt University.

But, he noted, that "doesn't last long. At the first sign of trouble, race comes right in the picture."

On August 5, at the request of the defense, the Judge in the Kobe Bryant case appointed the Pitkin County Sheriff's office to investigate alleged leaks by the law enforcement. The written order was entered Monday, and is quite broad. It is available here. After the investigation, the Pitkin County Sheriff's office will file a sealed report with the Judge and provide a copy to both the defense and prosecution.

In other case news, both the prosecution and defense have filed objections to cameras in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing. You can access their pleadings here.

While it hasn't made the national news, local news has been following the murder trial in Eagle of a prominent fur store owner charged with killing her former lover. It was a sordid trial filled with sex, drugs, domestic violence and infidelity. The jury took two hours to acquit Kathleen Denson of all charges.

The wealthy owner of Aspen and Vail fur shops was acquitted Monday evening of murder in the slaying of an ex-boyfriend during the disintegration of a stormy love triangle.

Kathleen Denson, 46, admitted killing Gerald "Cody" Boyd at her Draggin'-A quarter horse ranch last summer, but said the shooting with an antique black- powder handgun was in self-defense from a cocaine-crazed, self-proclaimed hit man.

The trial lasted about two weeks.

The case seemed the stuff of sensational fiction, replete with tales of greed, jealousy, and rage; investigators told of drug-and-booze binges and found video and photos of Denson and Boyd engaged in sexual acts.

And it even featured a little courtroom drama when Deputy District Attorney Greg Crittenden collapsed from exhaustion just before closing arguments, originally scheduled for Friday.

Greg Crittenden reportedly will be a chief prosecutor in the Kobe Bryant case.

Bump and Update: Judge Fred Gannett in Eagle, Colorado makes the right decision. Here is the text of his order. The search warrants, affidavits and the affidavit for the arrest warrant will stay sealed at least until Kobe is acquitted, convicted or the case is dismissed. Even thereafter, Kobe can move to keep them sealed. Disclosure of the documents now would be contrary to the public interest and would be unduly prejudicial to Kobe's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.

The best part of the Order is the last full paragraph on page 12. We highly recommend reading it.

Other documents that do not contain factual information about the case will be released. This includes the arrest warrant (again, not the affidavit which contains the reasons for the arrest warrant), the bond and appearance documents, the request for non-testimonial identification evidence (which Kobe complied with and which also are devoid of facts) and the like. Even the affidavit for the request for non-testimonial identificiation evidence stays sealed.

We don't understand why the media is playing this up like the Judge ruled for them. Clearly, he ruled for Kobe and his right to a fair trial.

Update: Some better reporting in the morning editions of the papers here and here. This AP story is good.

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The Judge in the Kobe Bryant case says his office is typing up his decision on unsealing arrest-related documents in the Kobe Bryant case this afternoon. His decision will be released late today or tomorrow.

The decision will be available here.

In other Kobe related news, a 22 year old from Iowa has been arrested and indicted by a Colorado federal grand jury for making threatening to kill Kobe's accuser.

There's several new articles in the Kobe Bryant case-- we've accumulated them on our separate Kobe Bryant Case Coverage page.

It strikes us as curious that members of the public believe they have the right to have their opinions heard by the Judge in the case. Letters are pouring into him. It strenghtens our view that televising trials leads the public to believe they are participants in the case --as if the trial is some sort of reality tv programming on which they get to vote.

It's doubtful the judge even reads the letters. They are part of the file, and many will be picked up on by the media which will choose to print the most titillating of them. The letters are amusing, but that's all, unless Kobe's lawyers can make a case based on the volume or slant of the letters that the prejudicial pre-trial publicity is so great and peoples' minds are so set that he cannot get a fair trial anywhere at this time, warranting a long abatement of the trial. That's a real longshot, at least for now.

California defense attorney Barry Tarlow, whom we consider to be one of the deans of criminal defense, has written an op-ed in Sunday's Los Angeles Times titled Rape Suspects' Uphill Road. Using the Kobe Bryant case as an illustration, Tarlow explains why rape defendants are at an unfair disadvantage due to public policy considerations that have resulted in rape shield laws:

We are about to witness the imbalance of these rules in the case of Los Angeles Laker star Kobe Bryant in Eagle, Colo. Colorado has a stringent rape shield law. Evidence about an alleged victim's reputation or sexual conduct with others is presumed to be "irrelevant," and the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that this "generally renders a victim's sexual history inadmissible."

....For Bryant, who has been charged with sexual assault, this is likely to mean that much of his intimate sexual history will now become "fair game." Like our country's last president, Bryant has made a humiliating public admission that he committed adultery. The prosecution's task, however, is not to prove that sexual contact occurred, but that it occurred without the alleged victim's consent.

....Although the defense might also be interested in investigating whether the alleged victim has previously engaged in similar sexual behavior, it would have an uphill battle to get such evidence in front of the jury. The same goes for evidence of sexual aggressiveness. Any evidence of it in his past may be admissible; in hers, that's not likely.

Joanna Spilbor, guest columnist at Findlaw, examines false reporting in rape cases and asks what happens if Kobe Bryant is falsely accused:

Spilbor argues that Colorado's and other states' decision to make false reports mere misdemeanors, with light penalties, is unfair to the accused. She also suggests several legal changes that would help deter false claims -- including allowing juries to find an accuser "Not Credible."

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This is the real news coming out of the Kobe Bryant hearing yesterday. The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office (which includes Aspen) will investigate alleged law enforcement leaks in the case. Bob Braudis, long-time sheriff of Pitkin county, is an honest and beloved sheriff. He's our favorite sheriff in America. Even our clients love Bob Braudis. He's honest and fair and runs a top-notch office. There won't be a whitewash here.

The DA's office, defense lawyers and the Judge all agreed on Braudis's office. That should tell you something about his reputation. Also, the Judge was a deputy sheriff in Pitkin before rising to the bench.

We think the Judge did an excellent job yesterday. He didn't insist on reading the charge aloud to Kobe. He allowed Kobe's lawyer to waive that formality, which meant Kobe was treated the same as everyone else. Had he done otherwise, the scene would have become the equivalent of the perp walk of the new century, played over and over again on television, until everyone's memory was indelibly inscribed with the image of Kobe and the charge of sexual assault. Charges are accusations only, not evidence, but who would remember that after seeing that segment of the hearing replayed hundreds of times.

Back to the leaking of case details, which the Judge addressed both during the hearing and in an interview after the hearing.