Will district judge open the court files? (Kobe Bryant)

DENVER -- Kobe Bryant's attorneys abruptly dropped a bid to permanently seal evidence in the NBA star's rape case Monday, saying details will be leaked anyway and releasing everything would reveal just how unprofessional the prosecution really was.

In a scathing court filing, defense attorney Pamela Mackey accused law enforcement officers and prosecutors of "unlawful or improper conduct" throughout the case, including the suppression of evidence suggesting Bryant was innocent. She said still-sealed Eagle County records include material "highly damaging to the prosecution" because they back Bryant's claim that he had consensual sex with a Vail-area resort employee last year.

Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan declined comment on the allegations and said prosecutors were evaluating the filing. There was no immediate indication whether District Judge Richard Hart, who has sealed the files pending the outcome of court fight, would release the material to the public.

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert dropped the felony sexual assault charge against Bryant at the alleged victim's request Sept. 1. Afterward, he said evidence and files that had been sealed for months should be released because the public's interest in reviewing the actions and decisions by prosecutors and the judge outweighs Bryant's privacy concerns.

The prosecutor said the woman's name and medical history should be kept private, a stance backed by her attorneys.

News organizations including The Associated Press have asked to see the case files, saying much of the material never should have been sealed in the first place. The defense challenged the request, saying the details are "embarrassing and private" matters of interest only for "salacious and other improper purposes."

Media attorney Chris Beall called Mackey's decision a victory, saying her explanation included the same arguments he made for unsealing the material.

"Pamela Mackey contends that Mr. Bryant's privacy interests still ought to trump a public interest, but what is important from our point of view is that she and Mr. Bryant have conceded there is a legitimate and indeed substantial public interest in access to all of the documents," Beall said. "That's precisely what we have been saying."

In reversing course, Mackey said releasing every document would allow full scrutiny of decisions made by Hurlbert, prosecutor Dana Easter and others in pressing the case against the Los Angeles Lakers star.

Among other things, Mackey said the Colorado Bureau of Investigation gave the prosecution evidence suggesting Bryant's innocence and that other evidence had not been tested.

She referred to former New York medical examiner Michael Baden, who said publicly he could not conclude injuries found on the alleged victim were the result of rape. Prosecutors dropped Baden from their witness list, but the defense said they refused to disclose his findings.

Mackey also said that the woman who accused Bryant of rape retracted portions of her previous statements to investigators in a letter written on July 31, 2004, about a month before Bryant's trial was scheduled to start.

In calling for full disclosure, Mackey said a transcript of Bryant's initial interview with sheriff's deputies that was published in the Vail Daily appeared to have been prepared by the prosecution.

"Mr. Bryant has concluded that one or more individuals associated with the prosecution intentionally and criminally violated" a court order by leaking the transcript, she wrote. And she said those same people will leak information to the media even if the details are sealed.

"(I)t would be wholly improper -- it would defeat the very public interest you claim you are attempting to advance -- to shield the fatal flaws in the prosecution of which your office was aware early on, and to shield your own office from public and media scrutiny," Mackey told Hurlbert last week.

Hurlbert responded by asking Mackey to "let me do my job as custodian of records."

"Be assured, I do not have any agenda to discredit you or your client," he wrote.

Bryant still faces a federal civil suit filed by the accuser, now 20, seeking unspecified damages for pain, suffering, "public scorn, hatred and ridicule." Her attorneys have said Bryant's request to seal the records should be denied because Bryant's request was too broad under state law, and because the records must be kept available until the final resolution of her civil lawsuit against Bryant.

Rocky Mountain News

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URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3214386,00.html
Accuser took back portion of statements
Bryant's attorneys want open records

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
September 28, 2004

Kobe Bryant's alleged victim took back part of her statements to investigators just one month before her case was dismissed, according to court documents made public Monday.

Bryant's legal team on Monday announced it is dropping its request that the Los Angeles Lakers star's arrest and criminal records be sealed, noting that Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert last week had filed his own opposition to those records being sealed.

In joining the prosecution's advocacy that Bryant records should now be open to public inspection, defense lawyer Pamela Mackey stated in a new case filing that for the public interest to be served, "the public and the media would need to know all of the information available to the prosecution and law enforcement - not just that related to Mr. Bryant."

Attached to Monday's filing by Mackey was a letter she sent to Hurlbert on Wednesday.

In the letter, she said that records in the possession of Hurlbert and Eagle County Sheriff Joseph Hoy are "highly damaging to the prosecution," support Bryant's account of his sexual encounter with his alleged victim, and "reveal unprofessional, unethical and otherwise unlawful or improper conduct" by investigators and members of the prosecution team.

Mackey's letter goes on to list a number of specific records that must be released, she said, to give an accurate account of the Bryant case.

Included in Mackey's list were:

• "Letter from complaining witness dated July 31, 2004, retracting portions of her statements given on July 1 and Sept. 12, 2003."

• "Exculpatory evidence provided to the prosecution by CBI including Agent (Yvonne) Woods' conclusions about the veracity of the complaining witness as discussed with (prosecutor) Ms. (Dana) Easter in February 2004."

• "Information concerning your office's failure to test evidence."

Bryant, a six-time NBA all-star, had been slated for trial for sexual assault in Eagle County District Court late last month, and jury selection in his highly anticipated trial commenced Aug. 27.

Hurlbert, however, announced Sept. 1 that the charge against Bryant - which could have sent him to prison for life, upon conviction - was being dismissed, because his alleged victim had elected not to go forward.

Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan, contacted Monday, could not discuss Mackey's reference to the alleged victim's reported changes in her account to investigators.

Calls to John Clune, representing the 20-year-old woman who said she was assaulted by Bryant, were not returned.

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