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.