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DENVER -- Rejecting a prosecution appeal, the Colorado Supreme Court has cleared the way for Kobe Bryant's attorneys to ask the 19-year-old woman accusing him of rape detailed questions about her sexual past. The court denied the appeal without comment Thursday. That means the woman will testify behind closed doors during a two-day hearing that begins March 24. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert acknowledges the Supreme Court rarely gets involved in such appeals. The defense is expected to ask the woman about previous sexual partners in hopes of backing up their claim that she had a "scheme" to sleep with the...

DENVER, United States (AFP) - Prosecutors in NBA star Kobe Bryant's rape case filed an unusual appeal against a judge's refusal to limit questions about his alleged victim's sexual history during pre-trial hearings. Prosecutors appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court to spare Kobe Bryant's accuser from a potentially embarrassing and stressful grilling by his lawyers at an upcoming hearing in the basketball star's sexual assault case. Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert on Tuesday announced he had filed the appeal challenges judge Terry Ruckriegle's decision last week not to limit questioning of the 19-year-old woman Bryant allegedly assaulted June 30...

EAGLE, Colo. - The woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape will face detailed questions about her sex life when she testifies in a closed hearing in three weeks, a judge has ruled. Hours after an attorney for Bryant's accuser denied a claim that the woman had sex with someone else the morning after the alleged attack, State District Judge Terry Ruckriegle made his decision. The 19-year-old woman is scheduled to face her alleged attacker for the first time in court in the March 24-25 hearing. The Los Angeles Lakers (news) star's attorneys subpoenaed her in hopes her testimony would...

EAGLE, Colo. - Kobe Bryant's attorneys went on the offensive yesterday, making controversial allegations about the sexual activity of the woman who has accused the Los Angeles Lakers star of rape. The defense said during a pretrial hearing and in a court filing that the woman has had sex with two prosecution witnesses and that she also had intercourse only hours after her encounter with Bryant. Early yesterday, Judge Terry Ruckriegle denied a motion by the prosecution to limit defense questioning of the woman. But after the lunch recess, the judge rescinded that decision. It was not entirely clear why...

EAGLE, Colo. - Lawyers for Kobe Bryant are ready to target the state's 30-year-old rape-shield law in their hope to bolster the NBA star's defense. For the first time since their June encounter, Bryant and his 19-year-old accuser were expected to be in the same room together for a pretrial hearing Monday. Parts of the two-day hearing are to be closed. One of the issues was to be Colorado's rape law, which is similar to laws in all 49 other states. It makes defense lawyers prove why an alleged victim's sexual history is relevant evidence. Defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and...

DENVER - Kobe Bryant's accuser is scheduled to testify next week at a hearing that will help determine whether her sexual history can be used against her during the NBA star's rape trial. Prosecutors asked a judge Friday to strictly limit what defense attorneys can ask the 19-year-old woman during the closed-door hearing on Tuesday, her first testimony in the case. Bryant, 25, is charged with sexually assaulting the woman at a mountain resort near Vail where she worked and he was a guest last June. He has said the two had consensual sex. Prosecutor Dana Easter accused Bryant's attorneys...

<p>DENVER — Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant returns to a Colorado court Friday for a hearing to decide if his accuser's medical records can be part of his defense against rape charges, but the arguments will be closed to the public.</p>