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CNN Live At Daybreak
Kobe Bryant Case: Crucial Evidence
Aired January 23, 2004 - 06:16 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Eagle, Colorado today, a crucial behind closed doors hearing in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case.
CNN's Adrian Baschuk is on the case for us live from Eagle.
And, Adrian, this is certainly a motion that prosecutors are going to be fighting hard again.
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... and team and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to be a never-ending paper trail of motions. Today just one motion will be decided. It is just one step along the very long legal pathway heading into triumph.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Neither the public nor the media will see today's proceedings, but Kobe Bryant will be joined in court by health officials and the alleged victim's mother testifying whether or not the 19-year-old accuser waived her patient-physician privileges. It is step one to determine what, if any, of the woman's sexual past and mental health records will be admitted as evidence during trial.
But the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault says Bryant's defense team is going too far.
CYNTHIA STONE, SEXUAL ASSAULT COALITION: We feel that the spirit of the Rape Shield law has been violated by the defense in this case.
BASCHUK: Colorado's stringent Rape Shield law protects victims of sexual assaults from psychological or emotional abuse in court and calls the past sexual conduct -- quote -- "irrelevant, except in certain circumstances."
Defense experts think that this case is an exception.
LARRY POSNER, DENVER ATTORNEY: You are allowed to plead not guilty, you're allowed to say that isn't the truth and you're allowed to show the facts. That the facts are distasteful, embarrassing, that's just part of life.
BASCHUK: The defense's court filings describe the 19-year-old accuser as suffering from a bipolar disorder, suggesting she was in a manic state at the time of the incident that Bryant calls consensual and may be suffering from a dilution about what happened in the Cordillera resort hotel room. (END VIDEOTAPE)
Now why is today's hearing closed? Well the judge has already weighed in on the media's extensive coverage in the case, writing in his ruling that dissemination of these highly sensitive medical records would lead to even further speculation and comment in the media -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Adrian Baschuk, thanks very much, from Eagle, Colorado.
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 January 23, 2004 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Eagle, Colorado today, a crucial behind closed doors hearing in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case.
CNN's Adrian Baschuk is on the case for us live from Eagle.
And, Adrian, this is certainly a motion that prosecutors are going to be fighting hard again.
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... and team and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to be a never-ending paper trail of motions. Today just one motion will be decided. It is just one step along the very long legal pathway heading into triumph.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADRIAN BASCHUK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Neither the public nor the media will see today's proceedings, but Kobe Bryant will be joined in court by health officials and the alleged victim's mother testifying whether or not the 19-year-old accuser waived her patient-physician privileges. It is step one to determine what, if any, of the woman's sexual past and mental health records will be admitted as evidence during trial.
But the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault says Bryant's defense team is going too far.
CYNTHIA STONE, SEXUAL ASSAULT COALITION: We feel that the spirit of the Rape Shield law has been violated by the defense in this case.
BASCHUK: Colorado's stringent Rape Shield law protects victims of sexual assaults from psychological or emotional abuse in court and calls the past sexual conduct -- quote -- "irrelevant, except in certain circumstances."
Defense experts think that this case is an exception.
LARRY POSNER, DENVER ATTORNEY: You are allowed to plead not guilty, you're allowed to say that isn't the truth and you're allowed to show the facts. That the facts are distasteful, embarrassing, that's just part of life.
BASCHUK: The defense's court filings describe the 19-year-old accuser as suffering from a bipolar disorder, suggesting she was in a manic state at the time of the incident that Bryant calls consensual and may be suffering from a dilution about what happened in the Cordillera resort hotel room. (END VIDEOTAPE)
Now why is today's hearing closed? Well the judge has already weighed in on the media's extensive coverage in the case, writing in his ruling that dissemination of these highly sensitive medical records would lead to even further speculation and comment in the media -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Adrian Baschuk, thanks very much, from Eagle, Colorado.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
