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CNN Live At Daybreak
The Kobe Bryant Case
Aired October 16, 2003 - 05:04 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now the Kobe Bryant case. The judge says he'll likely rule by Monday whether Bryant will stand trial on a sexual assault charge. A preliminary hearing concluded yesterday with new revelations about Bryant and his accuser.
CNN's Eric Philips is in Eagle County.
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, good morning.
Compelling testimony coming out of court proceedings here in Eagle, and a little bit of irony. That is, last week it was the defense requesting that the judge close the courtroom to the media. The prosecution objected. This time around, it was the other way around.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS (voice-over): Under cross-examination from the defense, Eagle County Sheriff's Detective Doug Winters testified that the accuser told him she had sex with a different man three days before the alleged incident with the Lakers' star. Winters also testified that the underwear the accuser wore to the hospital the next day contained pubic hair and semen that was not Kobe Bryant's.
Last week, defense attorney Pamela Mackey caused an uproar in court when she asked the detective if the accuser's injuries were "consistent with someone who had sex with three different men in three days." The prosecution filed a motion Tuesday accusing the defense of a conscious misrepresentation of the evidence. The defense fired back, saying evidence from the prosecution's own lab represents "compelling evidence of Bryant's innocence."
As a result, Judge Gannett ruled that portions of the alleged victim's sexual history would be permitted as evidence for the media and public to hear.
CRAIG SILVERMAN, DENVER DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're just talking about a preliminary hearing. But the prospective jurors are out there watching and listening and perhaps making up their minds.
PHILIPS: The district attorney is cautioning everyone to not rush to judgment.
MARK HULBERT, EAGLE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: And no prosecutor puts on their whole case at preliminary hearing. In fact, in this case, you actually saw kind of a sanitized version of a preliminary hearing. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS: Legal experts agree that this case stands a very good chance of going to trial because the bar for probable cause is so low. But the jury is still out on what will happen in trial once the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kobe Bryant committed rape.
In Eagle County, I'm Eric Philips -- Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you.
Legal analyst Kendall Coffey will join us to break down the Bryant case on Coffey Talk. That's in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 16, 2003 - 05:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now the Kobe Bryant case. The judge says he'll likely rule by Monday whether Bryant will stand trial on a sexual assault charge. A preliminary hearing concluded yesterday with new revelations about Bryant and his accuser.
CNN's Eric Philips is in Eagle County.
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, good morning.
Compelling testimony coming out of court proceedings here in Eagle, and a little bit of irony. That is, last week it was the defense requesting that the judge close the courtroom to the media. The prosecution objected. This time around, it was the other way around.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS (voice-over): Under cross-examination from the defense, Eagle County Sheriff's Detective Doug Winters testified that the accuser told him she had sex with a different man three days before the alleged incident with the Lakers' star. Winters also testified that the underwear the accuser wore to the hospital the next day contained pubic hair and semen that was not Kobe Bryant's.
Last week, defense attorney Pamela Mackey caused an uproar in court when she asked the detective if the accuser's injuries were "consistent with someone who had sex with three different men in three days." The prosecution filed a motion Tuesday accusing the defense of a conscious misrepresentation of the evidence. The defense fired back, saying evidence from the prosecution's own lab represents "compelling evidence of Bryant's innocence."
As a result, Judge Gannett ruled that portions of the alleged victim's sexual history would be permitted as evidence for the media and public to hear.
CRAIG SILVERMAN, DENVER DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're just talking about a preliminary hearing. But the prospective jurors are out there watching and listening and perhaps making up their minds.
PHILIPS: The district attorney is cautioning everyone to not rush to judgment.
MARK HULBERT, EAGLE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: And no prosecutor puts on their whole case at preliminary hearing. In fact, in this case, you actually saw kind of a sanitized version of a preliminary hearing. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS: Legal experts agree that this case stands a very good chance of going to trial because the bar for probable cause is so low. But the jury is still out on what will happen in trial once the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kobe Bryant committed rape.
In Eagle County, I'm Eric Philips -- Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you.
Legal analyst Kendall Coffey will join us to break down the Bryant case on Coffey Talk. That's in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
