One side got holes drilled through it. That was the prosecution.
The other side did great. That was Kobe Bryant's defense team.
That's the analysis of Denver defense attorney Larry Pozner, who
attended Bryant's preliminary hearing on sexual assault charges
Wednesday in Eagle.
Other legal experts who watched the proceedings agreed.
"Clearly this is not a strong prosecution case," said Denver
attorney Andrew Cohen. "Clearly the defense is going to have an awful
lot of material to work with if and when the case goes to trial."
Former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman said the prosecution's
case against Bryant now appears so weak that it may hurt future rape
victims, who may have a harder time persuading anyone that they were
raped.
"It's a major step backwards for those of us who believe strongly
in the rights of sexual assault victims," Silverman said.
Consider this testimony, the legal experts said, that was elicited
by defense attorney Pamela Mackey as she cross-examined prosecution
witnesses:
to stay at the resort where she worked as a concierge.
Bryant to one of the most remote rooms and put his bodyguards in the
opposite direction.
flirted with each other.
private route there, going outside the lodge and using employee-only
hallways.
room.
Bryant, who is married, has admitted having sex with the woman but has
insisted it was consensual.
that she said "No" to Bryant, and the detective even asked her why
she didn't say "No." She said she physically indicated her
unwillingness to have sex, placing her hands on Bryant's to stop him,
and she told the detective that Bryant then stopped. In later
interviews, she said she did tell Bryant "No."
person who encountered the woman after the alleged assault, and he
allegedly found her distraught, a night auditor working at the desk
where the woman returned from Bryant's room wrote prosecutors later
that the woman seemed completely calm to her and did more work before
going home.
semen was found in her underpants that wasn't Bryant's. The underpants
she had worn on the night of the alleged assault contained a drop of
blood.
A pubic hair, not Bryant's, also was found.
could account for the injuries the woman said she received when Bryant
assaulted her.
that she had been sexually assaulted did not seize evidence from his
bathroom, where the woman had said she had wept and bled.
"It's a picture entirely different than the picture the
prosecution painted," Pozner said.
"What the defense scored was not a single point or a point here
and a point there, but completely related points in the story showing
a whole different version of what happened that night, and that
version was based on the complainant's own statements," he said.
"It was a devastating day for the prosecution."
Cohen pointed out that prosecutors haven't presented all of their
evidence.
At the preliminary hearing stage, they don't have to present it all, only enough to persuade a judge that enough evidence exists to try
Bryant.
"The question is going to be whether or not they actually have
something when they finally lay their cards on the table at trial,"
Cohen said. "But it's hard to escape the impression this afternoon
that there are a lot of problems with this case.
"And those problems are either going to have to be addressed
before trial, or Kobe Bryant's going to be acquitted."
This story appeared in the Rocky Mountain News.