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American Morning

Kobe Bryant Will Stand Trial on Charge of Sexual Assault

Aired October 21, 2003 - 07:32   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 has now ruled that basketball star Kobe Bryant will stand trial on a charge of sexual assault.
CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman has this report from Eagle County.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Graphic allegations against Kobe Bryant were aggressively fought by his attorneys during his preliminary hearing. But the judge said the prosecution had enough evidence to tip the legal pendulum in its direction. "The court finds that the evidence, taken in a light most favorable to the prosecution, is sufficient to induce a reasonable belief the defendant committed sexual assault as charged. The People have therefore established sufficient probable cause to bind this matter over to District Court for trial."

Prosecutors had said after the preliminary hearing last week they expected this outcome.

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I am confident that the judge will find probable cause and will bind this case over.

TUCHMAN: District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said he presented a sanitized case, leaving out some information because it was either too sensitive for this hearing or because he wants to hold it for the trial. But the judge's order seemed to imply he was not overly impressed with the prosecution case. "The People presented," said Judge Fred Gannett, "what can only be described as a minimal amount of evidence, relying substantially on the use of hearsay evidence." But because the evidence met the probable cause burden, the Los Angeles Laker guard is now on the path to a felony sexual assault trial.

Just before the decision came down, Bryant was asked by CNN at a Laker practice if he was anxious.

KOBE BRYANT, DEFENDANT: Basketball, zero anxiety. Other stuff, there's a little anxiety. I mean I just pretty much, you know, give it up and, you know, I've pretty much done all I can here and just, you know, god will carry me the rest of the way. So I'm pretty comfortable with that.

TUCHMAN: Bryant's attorneys released a statement following the judge's order. "Judge Gannett's decision does not change the fact," they said, "that this case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and should never have been filed."

(on camera): Kobe Bryant will have to come back here to Eagle on November 10 for his initial appearance in the District Court, where he'll be advised of his rights. His Lakers have a game that very same night against Memphis.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Eagle County.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Bryant's lawyers could have waived the preliminary hearing. The hearing revealed many details about the case that were not public knowledge and perhaps provided a little bit of a glimpse into some of the strategies of both the defense and the prosecution.

This morning we are joined by a man who's defended many high profile clients, Benjamin Brafman.

Nice to have you.

Thanks for joining us. BENJAMIN BRAFMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what the judge did and said. He said that this, in fact, would go to trial now, which I don't think was a surprise for many people because it seems that the bar is fairly low, and we've talked about that in the past. But his comments were a little surprising, at least to me. He said that they were able to establish probable cause -- this is the prosecution. But he highlighted the fact that he was not impressed, that it was a minimal amount of evidence that brought them to that.

What do you make of his comments?

BRAFMAN: That's really the highlight of the decision, not that he bound it over for trial, because as you correctly point out, that was expected by everyone. But taking a swipe at the quality of the prosecution's case is a little bit unusual and it suggests to me as a criminal defense lawyer that this is a very, very weak case, even perhaps weaker than we think.

O'BRIEN: So why would the judge do it? Is he sending a direct message to the prosecution, you might want to think about not going forward with this, even though it's been bound over for trial? Is he potentially damaging a pool of potential jurors?

BRAFMAN: I think you have a very honest judge in this case and I think he had a tough call here because the standard is so low he had to bind the case over. And yet this early, his reaction to this case is this is a weak case, and I think he just called it the way he saw it. I give him a lot of credit.

O'BRIEN: Credit, though, but could he be damaging a jury pool? I mean if you hear from the judge himself, ah, the case is so-so -- and I will say that he did say the following comments that we didn't have up there, that the prosecution did not have to reveal everything that they had. They did not have to show their entire hand. So I guess he's giving them room for maybe there's more.

But those are pretty strong comments.

BRAFMAN: They're strong comments. They're unusual comments from an experienced judge. And many judges might have passed on making that kind of observation. You know, Colorado is an interesting place. This judge looks like he's a pretty loose, independent kind of a person and I'm not certain it impacts on the jury pool per se because the jury has heard so much about this case that I think there's good and bad out there. And I think on balance it's a wash.

O'BRIEN: The defense could have waived the hearing and just gone straight to trial. What do you -- give me an assessment, looking back now, about if they made the right decision.

BRAFMAN: There's good and bad in the decision. I think many people would have waived it rather than have all of the embarrassing details aired. But, on the other hand, some very, very good points were scored in this preliminary hearing and a lot of people didn't know those good points. They only knew the bad points.

On balance, from a public relations standpoint, I think it's a draw. From a legal standpoint, they got some new information into the venue that wasn't out there before.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of what your feel is on this. The prosecution, the judge says the case is weak so far, he says. A lot of people said frankly, as you go to trial, we reset. It starts from zero again.

Who do you think is going to have the stronger case going forward?

BRAFMAN: This is a very tough case for the prosecution. This is the kind of case, based on what I've read, what I've seen, that if it's not Kobe Bryant who's in the hot seat, if it's not a superstar, it's a marginal case at best. And I'm not suggesting that a crime wasn't committed here. But based on the evidence produced at the preliminary hearing, it's going to be a very tough case to get a conviction.

O'BRIEN: How long before they go to trial, would you guess?

BRAFMAN: I guess it's going to be months. My guess is months. It could be longer, depending on how long the national basketball season lasts.

O'BRIEN: And I am sure we'll be talking with you over those many months.

Ben Brafman, nice to see you.

BRAFMAN: Nice to see you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for joining us this morning.

BRAFMAN: Thank you.

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 21, 2003 - 07:32   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 has now ruled that basketball star Kobe Bryant will stand trial on a charge of sexual assault.
CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman has this report from Eagle County.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Graphic allegations against Kobe Bryant were aggressively fought by his attorneys during his preliminary hearing. But the judge said the prosecution had enough evidence to tip the legal pendulum in its direction. "The court finds that the evidence, taken in a light most favorable to the prosecution, is sufficient to induce a reasonable belief the defendant committed sexual assault as charged. The People have therefore established sufficient probable cause to bind this matter over to District Court for trial."

Prosecutors had said after the preliminary hearing last week they expected this outcome.

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I am confident that the judge will find probable cause and will bind this case over.

TUCHMAN: District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said he presented a sanitized case, leaving out some information because it was either too sensitive for this hearing or because he wants to hold it for the trial. But the judge's order seemed to imply he was not overly impressed with the prosecution case. "The People presented," said Judge Fred Gannett, "what can only be described as a minimal amount of evidence, relying substantially on the use of hearsay evidence." But because the evidence met the probable cause burden, the Los Angeles Laker guard is now on the path to a felony sexual assault trial.

Just before the decision came down, Bryant was asked by CNN at a Laker practice if he was anxious.

KOBE BRYANT, DEFENDANT: Basketball, zero anxiety. Other stuff, there's a little anxiety. I mean I just pretty much, you know, give it up and, you know, I've pretty much done all I can here and just, you know, god will carry me the rest of the way. So I'm pretty comfortable with that.

TUCHMAN: Bryant's attorneys released a statement following the judge's order. "Judge Gannett's decision does not change the fact," they said, "that this case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and should never have been filed."

(on camera): Kobe Bryant will have to come back here to Eagle on November 10 for his initial appearance in the District Court, where he'll be advised of his rights. His Lakers have a game that very same night against Memphis.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Eagle County.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Bryant's lawyers could have waived the preliminary hearing. The hearing revealed many details about the case that were not public knowledge and perhaps provided a little bit of a glimpse into some of the strategies of both the defense and the prosecution.

This morning we are joined by a man who's defended many high profile clients, Benjamin Brafman.

Nice to have you.

Thanks for joining us. BENJAMIN BRAFMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what the judge did and said. He said that this, in fact, would go to trial now, which I don't think was a surprise for many people because it seems that the bar is fairly low, and we've talked about that in the past. But his comments were a little surprising, at least to me. He said that they were able to establish probable cause -- this is the prosecution. But he highlighted the fact that he was not impressed, that it was a minimal amount of evidence that brought them to that.

What do you make of his comments?

BRAFMAN: That's really the highlight of the decision, not that he bound it over for trial, because as you correctly point out, that was expected by everyone. But taking a swipe at the quality of the prosecution's case is a little bit unusual and it suggests to me as a criminal defense lawyer that this is a very, very weak case, even perhaps weaker than we think.

O'BRIEN: So why would the judge do it? Is he sending a direct message to the prosecution, you might want to think about not going forward with this, even though it's been bound over for trial? Is he potentially damaging a pool of potential jurors?

BRAFMAN: I think you have a very honest judge in this case and I think he had a tough call here because the standard is so low he had to bind the case over. And yet this early, his reaction to this case is this is a weak case, and I think he just called it the way he saw it. I give him a lot of credit.

O'BRIEN: Credit, though, but could he be damaging a jury pool? I mean if you hear from the judge himself, ah, the case is so-so -- and I will say that he did say the following comments that we didn't have up there, that the prosecution did not have to reveal everything that they had. They did not have to show their entire hand. So I guess he's giving them room for maybe there's more.

But those are pretty strong comments.

BRAFMAN: They're strong comments. They're unusual comments from an experienced judge. And many judges might have passed on making that kind of observation. You know, Colorado is an interesting place. This judge looks like he's a pretty loose, independent kind of a person and I'm not certain it impacts on the jury pool per se because the jury has heard so much about this case that I think there's good and bad out there. And I think on balance it's a wash.

O'BRIEN: The defense could have waived the hearing and just gone straight to trial. What do you -- give me an assessment, looking back now, about if they made the right decision.

BRAFMAN: There's good and bad in the decision. I think many people would have waived it rather than have all of the embarrassing details aired. But, on the other hand, some very, very good points were scored in this preliminary hearing and a lot of people didn't know those good points. They only knew the bad points.

On balance, from a public relations standpoint, I think it's a draw. From a legal standpoint, they got some new information into the venue that wasn't out there before.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of what your feel is on this. The prosecution, the judge says the case is weak so far, he says. A lot of people said frankly, as you go to trial, we reset. It starts from zero again.

Who do you think is going to have the stronger case going forward?

BRAFMAN: This is a very tough case for the prosecution. This is the kind of case, based on what I've read, what I've seen, that if it's not Kobe Bryant who's in the hot seat, if it's not a superstar, it's a marginal case at best. And I'm not suggesting that a crime wasn't committed here. But based on the evidence produced at the preliminary hearing, it's going to be a very tough case to get a conviction.

O'BRIEN: How long before they go to trial, would you guess?

BRAFMAN: I guess it's going to be months. My guess is months. It could be longer, depending on how long the national basketball season lasts.

O'BRIEN: And I am sure we'll be talking with you over those many months.

Ben Brafman, nice to see you.

BRAFMAN: Nice to see you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for joining us this morning.

BRAFMAN: Thank you.

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