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American Morning

Kobe Bryant Appears in Court Next Month for Preliminary Hearing

Aired July 21, 2003 - 08:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: When Kobe Bryant appears in court next month in Colorado for a preliminary hearing, the basketball superstar will be telling a judge what he told the world on Friday during a rather emotional news conference. You saw it live here on CNN. Saying that he is not guilty of any felony sex assault charge against him, saying he did commit adultery but the sex was consensual.
He now says this is a matter between him and his family.

Brian Cabell is live in Eagle, Colorado with more as we head into another week of this case -- Brian, good morning there.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

It is quiet here in Eagle this morning, certainly much quieter than it was last Friday when the D.A. made his announcement. And it probably will remain relatively quiet here over the next three weeks, until Bryant makes his next appearance here in court August 6, at which time he will be informed of his rights and also of the charge against him.

As you say, he made his appearance last Friday in Los Angeles with his wife at his side, an emotional statement. He was also there with his two attorneys, high powered big monied attorneys out of Denver. And the question we've been hearing here in Eagle is whether the young D.A. here, in a relatively small county, not many resources, whether he can match the resources and the experience of those attorneys.

He addressed that question earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Certainly when dealing with someone of Mr. Bryant's celebrity, there are a lot of difficulties in a case. But I'm, right now I'm evaluating as to what sort of other resources we are going to need in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Another issue that's been raised here is the issue of change of venue. This county, Eagle County, 35,000 population, is less than one percent African-American. Can Kobe Bryant, an outsider, get a fair trial here? The alleged victim, of course, is a hometown girl. The D.A. says yes, he can get a fair trial, but Bryant's attorneys may think otherwise.

Finally, there's the issue of friends. As you know, a number of the alleged victim's friends have been talking about her for the last couple of weeks. We now know that at least one of those friends has been called by the mother of the alleged victim asking her to please stop talking about the alleged victim. So apparently the family is concerned about this, the D.A. is concerned about this. They want to try to safeguard her privacy. But whether they'll succeed is another question -- Bill.

HEMMER: A good question, too.

Brian, thanks.

Criminal defense attorney Jayne Weintraub back with us live in Miami to talk more about this.

Jayne, how are you?

Good morning.

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Bill.

How are you?

HEMMER: I'm doing just fine, thanks.

Go back to Friday. I know lawyers do not like it when their client goes public and starts talking. Would you have allowed Kobe to do what he did with his wife on Friday?

WEINTRAUB: Sometimes it's the thing that the client wants to do. And if Kobe Bryant wanted to make a public statement, I think that what he did and what he said was fine. He didn't answer to the charges. What he said was honest. It was a consensual act. What he said was I have my wife by my side, this is a family matter, this isn't about basketball.

I think his demeanor was perfect. I think he appeared to be sad and humiliated and humble.

HEMMER: Wow. We're going to learn a lot about, well, the legal ins and outs of the laws of rape in Colorado. There is this thing out there called a rape shield law, which essentially says that the accuser, in this case this 19-year-old woman, her sexual past is not admissible.

WEINTRAUB: Correct.

HEMMER: But the accused, Kobe Bryant, his sexual past is. Explain this, as we go through it, about how it could have a major role in this case.

WEINTRAUB: Well, the rape shield law is a law that most states have enacted, you know, in their own way. And basically it's to protect the victim. In other words, we don't want to say because the girl claiming rape is not a virgin or because she might have, you know, a torrid past, that she couldn't be a victim of a sexual assault. I mean certainly that would be a very antiquated characterization that used to be very prevalent in cases. You know, defense lawyers commonly would just annihilate these rape victims, saying you couldn't be raped, you slept with four people in your lifetime.

We don't do that anymore. We protect the victim's rights as a victim. So what the defense, I think, has to do here is just thoroughly investigate her. We're not talking about her sexual prowess, we're talking about her emotional stability has been called into issue here. It's been reported that she's overdosed. It's been reported that she's been distraught. It's been reported that she's a name grabber. I mean, Bill, what was she doing running up there at 11 o'clock at night after hours?

There are lots of things to investigate. Perhaps she was going to grab the brass ring and then changed her mind. Who knows? There's lots to do here.

HEMMER: OK, as the defense attorney, those are the issues you look at. As a prosecutor, then, change your hat for a second.

WEINTRAUB: Sure.

HEMMER: What evidence do they need to bring to this case to win it?

WEINTRAUB: Unfortunately, although it's not required, I think in this case they really need to bring some corroborative evidence, something physical. Maybe there's bruising. Maybe there's torn sheets. Maybe there's some blood if they were really, really lucky, but I doubt it. The best evidence would be under her nails there would be scrapings and as part of the rape kit routinely that would be taken by a nurse and clinically saved. They could then match the DNA.

If she's really being attacked -- and remember, Bill, he's charged here with physical force asserting himself. If he's charged here such as that, it might be his build and just his, you know, how big he is, but it also could be that he forced her. In other words, he might have held her down. There might be a mark.

So the prosecutor here, I think, is going to be held to really having to have something to corroborate it.

HEMMER: So this hinges on consent versus force, essentially?

WEINTRAUB: Well, it's going to be more than a he said/she said, which is a consent case. Consent, you know, normally in a rape case, think about it, you don't have witnesses. Nobody else is in the room. However, in this case there probably were people very close to Kobe.

HEMMER: All right, listen, less than about a...

WEINTRAUB: So I'm sure they'll be subpoenaed.

HEMMER: Less than a minute here. A change of venue, is it even possible...

WEINTRAUB: I think so.

HEMMER: ... to even consider moving it out of Colorado?

WEINTRAUB: Not possible to move it out of Colorado...

HEMMER: So, if that's the case, I mean the state's pretty, it's pretty similar demographics across the board when it comes to Colorado. If you're going to move it, where do you take it?

WEINTRAUB: You take it to a city. You take it to Denver. You take it to Aspen. I mean I think what needs to be done is for both sides to get a fair trial -- because both sides, remember, are entitled to a fair trial, the prosecution as well as the defense -- I think both side need to do witness polls, opinion polls. They'll do a mock trial, like in any high profile case and they'll determine, based on the polling, what people really think.

HEMMER: This is going to be ugly isn't it, Jayne?

WEINTRAUB: It is.

HEMMER: Jayne, thanks.

Jayne Weintraub from Miami.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Hearing>


Aired July 21, 2003 - 08:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: When Kobe Bryant appears in court next month in Colorado for a preliminary hearing, the basketball superstar will be telling a judge what he told the world on Friday during a rather emotional news conference. You saw it live here on CNN. Saying that he is not guilty of any felony sex assault charge against him, saying he did commit adultery but the sex was consensual.
He now says this is a matter between him and his family.

Brian Cabell is live in Eagle, Colorado with more as we head into another week of this case -- Brian, good morning there.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

It is quiet here in Eagle this morning, certainly much quieter than it was last Friday when the D.A. made his announcement. And it probably will remain relatively quiet here over the next three weeks, until Bryant makes his next appearance here in court August 6, at which time he will be informed of his rights and also of the charge against him.

As you say, he made his appearance last Friday in Los Angeles with his wife at his side, an emotional statement. He was also there with his two attorneys, high powered big monied attorneys out of Denver. And the question we've been hearing here in Eagle is whether the young D.A. here, in a relatively small county, not many resources, whether he can match the resources and the experience of those attorneys.

He addressed that question earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Certainly when dealing with someone of Mr. Bryant's celebrity, there are a lot of difficulties in a case. But I'm, right now I'm evaluating as to what sort of other resources we are going to need in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Another issue that's been raised here is the issue of change of venue. This county, Eagle County, 35,000 population, is less than one percent African-American. Can Kobe Bryant, an outsider, get a fair trial here? The alleged victim, of course, is a hometown girl. The D.A. says yes, he can get a fair trial, but Bryant's attorneys may think otherwise.

Finally, there's the issue of friends. As you know, a number of the alleged victim's friends have been talking about her for the last couple of weeks. We now know that at least one of those friends has been called by the mother of the alleged victim asking her to please stop talking about the alleged victim. So apparently the family is concerned about this, the D.A. is concerned about this. They want to try to safeguard her privacy. But whether they'll succeed is another question -- Bill.

HEMMER: A good question, too.

Brian, thanks.

Criminal defense attorney Jayne Weintraub back with us live in Miami to talk more about this.

Jayne, how are you?

Good morning.

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning, Bill.

How are you?

HEMMER: I'm doing just fine, thanks.

Go back to Friday. I know lawyers do not like it when their client goes public and starts talking. Would you have allowed Kobe to do what he did with his wife on Friday?

WEINTRAUB: Sometimes it's the thing that the client wants to do. And if Kobe Bryant wanted to make a public statement, I think that what he did and what he said was fine. He didn't answer to the charges. What he said was honest. It was a consensual act. What he said was I have my wife by my side, this is a family matter, this isn't about basketball.

I think his demeanor was perfect. I think he appeared to be sad and humiliated and humble.

HEMMER: Wow. We're going to learn a lot about, well, the legal ins and outs of the laws of rape in Colorado. There is this thing out there called a rape shield law, which essentially says that the accuser, in this case this 19-year-old woman, her sexual past is not admissible.

WEINTRAUB: Correct.

HEMMER: But the accused, Kobe Bryant, his sexual past is. Explain this, as we go through it, about how it could have a major role in this case.

WEINTRAUB: Well, the rape shield law is a law that most states have enacted, you know, in their own way. And basically it's to protect the victim. In other words, we don't want to say because the girl claiming rape is not a virgin or because she might have, you know, a torrid past, that she couldn't be a victim of a sexual assault. I mean certainly that would be a very antiquated characterization that used to be very prevalent in cases. You know, defense lawyers commonly would just annihilate these rape victims, saying you couldn't be raped, you slept with four people in your lifetime.

We don't do that anymore. We protect the victim's rights as a victim. So what the defense, I think, has to do here is just thoroughly investigate her. We're not talking about her sexual prowess, we're talking about her emotional stability has been called into issue here. It's been reported that she's overdosed. It's been reported that she's been distraught. It's been reported that she's a name grabber. I mean, Bill, what was she doing running up there at 11 o'clock at night after hours?

There are lots of things to investigate. Perhaps she was going to grab the brass ring and then changed her mind. Who knows? There's lots to do here.

HEMMER: OK, as the defense attorney, those are the issues you look at. As a prosecutor, then, change your hat for a second.

WEINTRAUB: Sure.

HEMMER: What evidence do they need to bring to this case to win it?

WEINTRAUB: Unfortunately, although it's not required, I think in this case they really need to bring some corroborative evidence, something physical. Maybe there's bruising. Maybe there's torn sheets. Maybe there's some blood if they were really, really lucky, but I doubt it. The best evidence would be under her nails there would be scrapings and as part of the rape kit routinely that would be taken by a nurse and clinically saved. They could then match the DNA.

If she's really being attacked -- and remember, Bill, he's charged here with physical force asserting himself. If he's charged here such as that, it might be his build and just his, you know, how big he is, but it also could be that he forced her. In other words, he might have held her down. There might be a mark.

So the prosecutor here, I think, is going to be held to really having to have something to corroborate it.

HEMMER: So this hinges on consent versus force, essentially?

WEINTRAUB: Well, it's going to be more than a he said/she said, which is a consent case. Consent, you know, normally in a rape case, think about it, you don't have witnesses. Nobody else is in the room. However, in this case there probably were people very close to Kobe.

HEMMER: All right, listen, less than about a...

WEINTRAUB: So I'm sure they'll be subpoenaed.

HEMMER: Less than a minute here. A change of venue, is it even possible...

WEINTRAUB: I think so.

HEMMER: ... to even consider moving it out of Colorado?

WEINTRAUB: Not possible to move it out of Colorado...

HEMMER: So, if that's the case, I mean the state's pretty, it's pretty similar demographics across the board when it comes to Colorado. If you're going to move it, where do you take it?

WEINTRAUB: You take it to a city. You take it to Denver. You take it to Aspen. I mean I think what needs to be done is for both sides to get a fair trial -- because both sides, remember, are entitled to a fair trial, the prosecution as well as the defense -- I think both side need to do witness polls, opinion polls. They'll do a mock trial, like in any high profile case and they'll determine, based on the polling, what people really think.

HEMMER: This is going to be ugly isn't it, Jayne?

WEINTRAUB: It is.

HEMMER: Jayne, thanks.

Jayne Weintraub from Miami.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Hearing>