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American Morning

Kobe Bryant Headed for Trial?

Aired October 16, 2003 - 07:11   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A Colorado judge says he will likely decide by Monday whether Kobe Bryant should stand trial on a charge of sexual assault. A preliminary hearing on the matter wrapped up yesterday.
And, as Gary Tuchman reports, the defense cast some major doubts over the prosecution's case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the wheels of justice spin Kobe Bryant's way, he will not have to return to the Eagle County court in Colorado. In the closing arguments during the hearing to determine if he should stand trial, Bryant's attorney, Pamela Mackey, said the alleged victim is quote -- "Not worthy of your belief."

One week after attorney Mackey angered the judge by making a comment about the accuser's alleged sexual past, she was permitted to address elements of it, cross-examining the detective who interviewed the 19-year-old. He acknowledged that somebody else's semen and pubic hair were on the woman's underwear, when she went to the hospital the day after the alleged crime, and that she said she recently had sex with someone else. The defense is trying to prove her injuries might have come from someone other than Bryant.

LARRY POZNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They showed the prosecution, look, we're not building this case on what Kobe says. We're building this case on what your witness says.

TUCHMAN: But prosecutors cited the 19-year-old's blood found on Kobe Bryant's T-shirt and a bruise on her jaw they say was caused by Bryant's thumb while putting his hands around her neck.

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I am confident that the judge will find probable cause and will bind this case over. And I am confident in the people's case versus Kobe Bryant.

TUCHMAN: The detective on the stand did acknowledge to defense attorneys that Bryant's clothes were not torn, that he had no scratches, and that nearby guests in the hotel heard nothing. But Detective Doug Winters says he has faith in the 19-year-old woman.

DET. DOUG WINTERS, EAGLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: I don't feel that there was a rush to judgment. We worked this case like we would any other type of sexual assault. TUCHMAN (on camera): So, will Kobe Bryant go to trial? Judge Fred Gannett could have made his decision immediately after the hearing. Instead, he said, I'll make it next week, most likely Monday.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Eagle, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was in the Colorado courtroom yesterday, and this morning he's in San Francisco for us with his perspective on the developments in the Bryant case.

Good morning -- Jeffrey. Thanks for joining us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: There is so much to discuss, I want to kind of break it down into pieces.

TOOBIN: OK.

O'BRIEN: So first, we just heard from Gary that there was some evidence that the woman who was accusing Kobe of sexual assault had sex with somebody else at some point prior to or just after her attack as she says from Kobe Bryant. So, my question would be: Why isn't this information covered by the rape shield laws? And outside of the salacious element of it, certainly no one could argue that somebody who had previous sexual activity couldn't be a victim of a rape, right?

TOOBIN: That's true, and it is close to the line in terms of whether this implicates the shield law. But the way it came in is that when the accuser went to the police, she brought with her two pairs of underwear -- one she said that she wore at the time of the attack, the other what she was wearing when she went to the police about a day later.

On the underwear that she said she wore the day of the attack, no semen from anyone -- no genetic or evidence connecting anyone to that. In terms of the underwear she was wearing when she came to the police, there was semen and pubic hair of someone who was clearly not Kobe Bryant. That is evidence. That's not her sexual history. That is specific evidence in the case, and it doesn't implicate Kobe Bryant. And I think the defense had every right to bring it out.

O'BRIEN: Kobe Bryant supposedly talked on a videotape -- and you and I discussed this yesterday -- and allegedly denied having sex originally with the investigators. How big of a problem is that for the defense? Some could argue people often lie about their sexual activity.

TOOBIN: Certainly. Interestingly, Soledad, that piece of evidence, the tape, the interview, was not played in court. There was some evidence presented in secret, and we don't know what that was. The implication was it was that tape, but certainly what Kobe Bryant said to the police immediately afterwards will be highly relevant in the case, very important evidence, but we don't know precisely what he said, even after the preliminary hearing.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Toobin, much more to discuss in this case, of course. It gets more and more complicated and uglier and uglier, frankly, as every day continues. Thanks for joining us this morning to clarify some of that for us.

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 - 07:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A Colorado judge says he will likely decide by Monday whether Kobe Bryant should stand trial on a charge of sexual assault. A preliminary hearing on the matter wrapped up yesterday.
And, as Gary Tuchman reports, the defense cast some major doubts over the prosecution's case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the wheels of justice spin Kobe Bryant's way, he will not have to return to the Eagle County court in Colorado. In the closing arguments during the hearing to determine if he should stand trial, Bryant's attorney, Pamela Mackey, said the alleged victim is quote -- "Not worthy of your belief."

One week after attorney Mackey angered the judge by making a comment about the accuser's alleged sexual past, she was permitted to address elements of it, cross-examining the detective who interviewed the 19-year-old. He acknowledged that somebody else's semen and pubic hair were on the woman's underwear, when she went to the hospital the day after the alleged crime, and that she said she recently had sex with someone else. The defense is trying to prove her injuries might have come from someone other than Bryant.

LARRY POZNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They showed the prosecution, look, we're not building this case on what Kobe says. We're building this case on what your witness says.

TUCHMAN: But prosecutors cited the 19-year-old's blood found on Kobe Bryant's T-shirt and a bruise on her jaw they say was caused by Bryant's thumb while putting his hands around her neck.

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I am confident that the judge will find probable cause and will bind this case over. And I am confident in the people's case versus Kobe Bryant.

TUCHMAN: The detective on the stand did acknowledge to defense attorneys that Bryant's clothes were not torn, that he had no scratches, and that nearby guests in the hotel heard nothing. But Detective Doug Winters says he has faith in the 19-year-old woman.

DET. DOUG WINTERS, EAGLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: I don't feel that there was a rush to judgment. We worked this case like we would any other type of sexual assault. TUCHMAN (on camera): So, will Kobe Bryant go to trial? Judge Fred Gannett could have made his decision immediately after the hearing. Instead, he said, I'll make it next week, most likely Monday.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Eagle, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was in the Colorado courtroom yesterday, and this morning he's in San Francisco for us with his perspective on the developments in the Bryant case.

Good morning -- Jeffrey. Thanks for joining us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: There is so much to discuss, I want to kind of break it down into pieces.

TOOBIN: OK.

O'BRIEN: So first, we just heard from Gary that there was some evidence that the woman who was accusing Kobe of sexual assault had sex with somebody else at some point prior to or just after her attack as she says from Kobe Bryant. So, my question would be: Why isn't this information covered by the rape shield laws? And outside of the salacious element of it, certainly no one could argue that somebody who had previous sexual activity couldn't be a victim of a rape, right?

TOOBIN: That's true, and it is close to the line in terms of whether this implicates the shield law. But the way it came in is that when the accuser went to the police, she brought with her two pairs of underwear -- one she said that she wore at the time of the attack, the other what she was wearing when she went to the police about a day later.

On the underwear that she said she wore the day of the attack, no semen from anyone -- no genetic or evidence connecting anyone to that. In terms of the underwear she was wearing when she came to the police, there was semen and pubic hair of someone who was clearly not Kobe Bryant. That is evidence. That's not her sexual history. That is specific evidence in the case, and it doesn't implicate Kobe Bryant. And I think the defense had every right to bring it out.

O'BRIEN: Kobe Bryant supposedly talked on a videotape -- and you and I discussed this yesterday -- and allegedly denied having sex originally with the investigators. How big of a problem is that for the defense? Some could argue people often lie about their sexual activity.

TOOBIN: Certainly. Interestingly, Soledad, that piece of evidence, the tape, the interview, was not played in court. There was some evidence presented in secret, and we don't know what that was. The implication was it was that tape, but certainly what Kobe Bryant said to the police immediately afterwards will be highly relevant in the case, very important evidence, but we don't know precisely what he said, even after the preliminary hearing.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Toobin, much more to discuss in this case, of course. It gets more and more complicated and uglier and uglier, frankly, as every day continues. Thanks for joining us this morning to clarify some of that for us.

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