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Bryant facing court hearing Friday ( 2003-12-19 09:39) (Agencies)
Medical records and patient confidentiality will be at the heart of Kobe Bryant's hearing Friday, when key evidence will be discussed in detail for the first time before the trial judge.
The NBA star's lawyers will argue they should be allowed to introduce the records of the woman accusing him of rape. They also will try to show mental problems might have affected her perception of what happened in a hotel room with Bryant last June.
The defense witness list is sealed, but prosecutors have confirmed the woman's mother was subpoenaed to appear. At least one friend also has been subpoenaed.
An attorney for the woman has asked the judge to close the courtroom for any testimony regarding her medical history. State District Judge Terry Ruckriegle has not ruled on the request.
Bryant, a 25-year-old guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault. Bryant, who has said the sex was consensual, will be at the hearing. The Lakers play at home Friday night, though Bryant was unsure if he will back in time for the game.
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," Bryant said at practice Thursday. "We'll see how long it takes."
Analysts said the defense needs to do everything it can to undermine the woman's credibility at trial.
"The prosecution is desperate to say in closing, `Why would this woman make it up?' All the defense is doing is saying, `Judge, don't tie our hands behind our back, we want to give an answer,'" said Denver attorney Larry Pozner, former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.
Among the records the defense wants to use are documents from the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, where authorities brought the 19-year-old woman in February after determining she was a "danger to herself."
Defense lawyers Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon have argued the woman tried to kill herself in February and again in May to get her ex-boyfriend's attention. They also say she had been prescribed an anti-psychotic drug.
The defense also wants access to notes taken during an interview of the woman by a worker for a rape victim's advocacy group. On Thursday, the judge granted a request for a hearing on whether those records can be released to the defense. He did not set a date for the hearing.
Bryant's attorneys could have a hard time obtaining the medical records: Under a 2002 Colorado Supreme Court decision, the records cannot even be reviewed by a judge in private unless the patient consents. In the Bryant case, the woman has not allowed the hospital to release any records.
In a court filing Thursday, Mackey said the woman discussed her medical condition and medications with a detective investigating the case — a move that constitutes a waiver of her privacy rights.
The hearing is expected to last all day and dozens of reporters and TV crews have again arrived in this small town, 30 miles from the Vail ski resort. There is no indication when the judge will rule.
A Jan. 23 hearing has been scheduled to hear arguments about other issues in the case, including a defense request to throw out statements Bryant made to investigators that were secretly taped before he had been read his rights.
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