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American Morning

Prosecution Has Not Decided to Charge Bryant Yet on Sexual Misconduct Case

Aired July 08, 2003 - 09:15   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: From Colorado prosecutors have not yet decided if they will file criminal charges against Kobe Bryant. A woman has accused the NBA superstar of sexual misconduct. Brian Cabell's live this morning in Edwards, Colorado. Take (ph) us what we need to know today. Brian, good morning there.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. A lot of questions in this case. Also, perhaps, the suggestion of a rift between the sheriff's office and the prosecutor's office as to whether Mr. Bryant should have been arrested at all last week. The victim in this case, according to Vail newspaper, is a 19-year-old Eagle County resident. This is Eagle County.

As for Bryant himself, we understand he is back in southern California after coming out here on July 4. He was arrested. He turned himself in. He posted $25,000 bond and he returned. He was arrested, but charges have not been filed yet, officially. That decision will be left to the prosecutor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO: As to when I'll have a filing decision, I'd like to give you a definite time and place, but I do not have that at this time. Sexual assault cases are extremely complex and sometimes it takes a while to get through everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: He hopes to have that decision, he says, by the end of this week.

According to the alleged victim, the assault by Bryant took place last Monday night while Bryant was here in town to have surgery on his knee.

Kobe Bryant, of course, is one of the premier players in the NBA, has been for seven years. He's only 24-years-old, believe it or not. He's sometimes been compared to Michael Jordan. He has enjoyed a squeaky clean image up until to this point. He's been married for two years, he has a young child born just last January.

And someone who travels with the Lakers, who knows him pretty well, says Kobe Bryant is not the type who enjoys going to parties. He does not entertain groupies. He does not enjoy drinking. When he travels on the road he simply goes to his room. He watches videos. He watches movies and he calls his wife. So this, he says, is very, very uncharacteristic for Kobe Bryant.

Nevertheless, the accusation is out there. And it is up to the D.A. here to decide whether to move forward with this case. And as I say, we may have that decision later on this week -- Bill.

HEMMER: Brian, thanks for that in Colorado.

Back here with Jeff Toobin to take us through this again. Roy Black (ph) was on with us last hour. He's represented some very high- profile cases on the defense side. He something that -- he said something, rather, that got your attention. Tell us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well he summarized an issue that, you know, I get asked a lot and I thought about a lot. It's being a celebrity, does it help you or hurt you as a defendant or as a suspect? And he said, Well, it hurts you in the charging decision. Prosecutors always bend over backwards to say...

HEMMER: So it's hurting him now is what you're saying?

TOOBIN: It's hurting him now, especially in a case like this. It's hurting you because prosecutors don't want to be accused of bending over backwards to help a celebrity.

But it helps you with jurors because jurors are regular citizens and like most citizens, they kind of like celebrities.

HEMMER: But does it -- it only helps you in front of a jury if you're somewhat sympathetic, if you look kind. if you have a pleasing appearance...

TOOBIN: Well, I mean there are not many celebrities who are celebrities for negative reasons. Most people who are well-known are well-known by and large for being good in some way or another. So I think by and large it does help you.

HEMMER: Let's push the edge of speculation here because we have no answers on this thing right now.

TOOBIN: Sure.

HEMMER: What's going on between the sheriff and the D.A.?

TOOBIN: Well what's going on is they have not handled this the way they should. In a situation like this, where you have a defendant who is clearly not fleeing, there's no way Kobe Bryant is going to disappear in the next few weeks, you want to have the D.A. and the police agree in advance, is this a case that we can bring or not?

Here you had a situation where the police, the sheriff's department, charged him immediately with this crime. The D.A. didn't know anything about it. He's now in the situation of if he goes forward with the case the defense will be able to say, if it comes to a jury, they rushed to judgment, they arrested this guy before they had any -- reviewed the evidence. And if the D.A. doesn't go forward, he'll be accused of backing off because he's a celebrity. HEMMER: Am I safe to assume -- I hate to do that right now, but I think we're going to have to. Am I safe to assume that the D.A.'s gotten the evidence, he's said, You know what? I'm not so sure I can win a case like this in court based on what I know right now.

TOOBIN: You know I don't think it's safe to assume that at this point. I mean this is so new, the evidence is so fresh that there -- they may not even have just reviewed it all.

HEMMER: Put on your former prosecutor hat. What do you want to know right now? What concerns you?

TOOBIN: You certainly want to interview the complaining witness. I mean obviously the most important thing is her story.

But almost as important is physical evidence, corroboration, some sort of -- whether it's clothing, whether it's DNA evidence, because you don't want to have a criminal case, any kind of case, but especially against a potentially sympathetic defendant that is solely one person's word against another. You want to see corroboration.

HEMMER: It's Tuesday. Think we'll have an answer by Friday?

HEMMER: My bet, as ,always is for a little delay. I think they may push until next week.

HEMMER: Some how those lawyers seem to work that way.

TOOBIN: Always safe bet.

HEMMER: OK, thanks, Jeff.

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




Misconduct Case>


Aired July 8, 2003 - 09:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: From Colorado prosecutors have not yet decided if they will file criminal charges against Kobe Bryant. A woman has accused the NBA superstar of sexual misconduct. Brian Cabell's live this morning in Edwards, Colorado. Take (ph) us what we need to know today. Brian, good morning there.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. A lot of questions in this case. Also, perhaps, the suggestion of a rift between the sheriff's office and the prosecutor's office as to whether Mr. Bryant should have been arrested at all last week. The victim in this case, according to Vail newspaper, is a 19-year-old Eagle County resident. This is Eagle County.

As for Bryant himself, we understand he is back in southern California after coming out here on July 4. He was arrested. He turned himself in. He posted $25,000 bond and he returned. He was arrested, but charges have not been filed yet, officially. That decision will be left to the prosecutor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO: As to when I'll have a filing decision, I'd like to give you a definite time and place, but I do not have that at this time. Sexual assault cases are extremely complex and sometimes it takes a while to get through everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: He hopes to have that decision, he says, by the end of this week.

According to the alleged victim, the assault by Bryant took place last Monday night while Bryant was here in town to have surgery on his knee.

Kobe Bryant, of course, is one of the premier players in the NBA, has been for seven years. He's only 24-years-old, believe it or not. He's sometimes been compared to Michael Jordan. He has enjoyed a squeaky clean image up until to this point. He's been married for two years, he has a young child born just last January.

And someone who travels with the Lakers, who knows him pretty well, says Kobe Bryant is not the type who enjoys going to parties. He does not entertain groupies. He does not enjoy drinking. When he travels on the road he simply goes to his room. He watches videos. He watches movies and he calls his wife. So this, he says, is very, very uncharacteristic for Kobe Bryant.

Nevertheless, the accusation is out there. And it is up to the D.A. here to decide whether to move forward with this case. And as I say, we may have that decision later on this week -- Bill.

HEMMER: Brian, thanks for that in Colorado.

Back here with Jeff Toobin to take us through this again. Roy Black (ph) was on with us last hour. He's represented some very high- profile cases on the defense side. He something that -- he said something, rather, that got your attention. Tell us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well he summarized an issue that, you know, I get asked a lot and I thought about a lot. It's being a celebrity, does it help you or hurt you as a defendant or as a suspect? And he said, Well, it hurts you in the charging decision. Prosecutors always bend over backwards to say...

HEMMER: So it's hurting him now is what you're saying?

TOOBIN: It's hurting him now, especially in a case like this. It's hurting you because prosecutors don't want to be accused of bending over backwards to help a celebrity.

But it helps you with jurors because jurors are regular citizens and like most citizens, they kind of like celebrities.

HEMMER: But does it -- it only helps you in front of a jury if you're somewhat sympathetic, if you look kind. if you have a pleasing appearance...

TOOBIN: Well, I mean there are not many celebrities who are celebrities for negative reasons. Most people who are well-known are well-known by and large for being good in some way or another. So I think by and large it does help you.

HEMMER: Let's push the edge of speculation here because we have no answers on this thing right now.

TOOBIN: Sure.

HEMMER: What's going on between the sheriff and the D.A.?

TOOBIN: Well what's going on is they have not handled this the way they should. In a situation like this, where you have a defendant who is clearly not fleeing, there's no way Kobe Bryant is going to disappear in the next few weeks, you want to have the D.A. and the police agree in advance, is this a case that we can bring or not?

Here you had a situation where the police, the sheriff's department, charged him immediately with this crime. The D.A. didn't know anything about it. He's now in the situation of if he goes forward with the case the defense will be able to say, if it comes to a jury, they rushed to judgment, they arrested this guy before they had any -- reviewed the evidence. And if the D.A. doesn't go forward, he'll be accused of backing off because he's a celebrity. HEMMER: Am I safe to assume -- I hate to do that right now, but I think we're going to have to. Am I safe to assume that the D.A.'s gotten the evidence, he's said, You know what? I'm not so sure I can win a case like this in court based on what I know right now.

TOOBIN: You know I don't think it's safe to assume that at this point. I mean this is so new, the evidence is so fresh that there -- they may not even have just reviewed it all.

HEMMER: Put on your former prosecutor hat. What do you want to know right now? What concerns you?

TOOBIN: You certainly want to interview the complaining witness. I mean obviously the most important thing is her story.

But almost as important is physical evidence, corroboration, some sort of -- whether it's clothing, whether it's DNA evidence, because you don't want to have a criminal case, any kind of case, but especially against a potentially sympathetic defendant that is solely one person's word against another. You want to see corroboration.

HEMMER: It's Tuesday. Think we'll have an answer by Friday?

HEMMER: My bet, as ,always is for a little delay. I think they may push until next week.

HEMMER: Some how those lawyers seem to work that way.

TOOBIN: Always safe bet.

HEMMER: OK, thanks, Jeff.

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




Misconduct Case>