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DENVER -- The woman accusing NBA star Kobe Bryant of rape will be forced to testify Wednesday about her sex life -- a move some experts fear could discourage other women from reporting sexual assaults.
The 19-year-old woman will testify behind closed doors, but dozens of reporters will be at the courthouse to report that she had to answer questions from defense attorneys about intimate details of her life.
"I'm frightened about this decision, only for the fact that families will not support victims and survivors to go report because they can now say, 'Look what happened to so-and-so,' " said Jeri Elster of Los Angeles, who was raped in 1992 and has lobbied for changes in the law. "It feels like a huge setback for survivors and victims to come."
The hearing will be held to determine whether details of the woman's sex life can be introduced at Bryant's trial. The defense says the information should be admitted because it could show that the woman's injuries were caused by another sexual partner and that she had a "scheme" to sleep with Bryant, possibly to gain the attention of an ex-boyfriend.
The prosecution fought to limit defense questioning, but was rebuffed by the Colorado Supreme Court. The hearing will be the first time the woman has faced Bryant since their encounter last summer.
Colorado's rape-shield law, like others around the country, generally bars defense attorneys from bringing up information about an alleged victim's sex life. The idea is to prevent the defense from depicting the alleged victim as a woman of loose morals. Judges, however, can hear such testimony in private to determine whether the information is relevant and admissible as evidence.
The woman's name and photos of her are splashed almost weekly on the covers of supermarket tabloids and can easily be found online. Court filings are posted on the Internet for anyone to see.
"This is the most harmful misuse of the rape-shield law I have ever seen," Wendy Murphy, a former prosecutor who teaches at the New England School of Law, she said of the Bryant case. "Without it, the defense would have nothing to point to to drag her into court."
Nationally, 84 percent of sexual assault victims do not go to police, most out of fear people will learn about the assault or that they will be blamed for the attack, according to a 1992 study by the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.
"If it's germane to the case, it should be brought out. That's due process and there's no problem with that from advocates in the field," Best said. "It's having other kinds of information made available" that creates a problem.
Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert has said in court filings the defense wants information about the woman's sexual activities from summer 2002 to August 2003, a range he said was too broad. The judge can halt questions he believes are unfair or irrelevant and prosecutors can object.
The hearing about the woman's sexual activities is scheduled to end Wednesday. Another closed-door hearing resumes Thursday on a request by Bryant's lawyers to throw out evidence including the NBA star's recorded statements to investigators and a T-shirt stained with the accuser's blood.
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not to get on a soapbox here, but...
It really burns my butt to see the alleged victim put on trial. What the h&ll difference does it make if she has had sex with the entire state of Colorado? If she said no, he had no business proceeding.
And if this happened the way he said it happened, how's come Bryant has a t-shirt stained with her blood on it?
The 19-year-old woman will testify behind closed doors, but dozens of reporters will be at the courthouse to report that she had to answer questions from defense attorneys about intimate details of her life.
"I'm frightened about this decision, only for the fact that families will not support victims and survivors to go report because they can now say, 'Look what happened to so-and-so,' " said Jeri Elster of Los Angeles, who was raped in 1992 and has lobbied for changes in the law. "It feels like a huge setback for survivors and victims to come."
The hearing will be held to determine whether details of the woman's sex life can be introduced at Bryant's trial. The defense says the information should be admitted because it could show that the woman's injuries were caused by another sexual partner and that she had a "scheme" to sleep with Bryant, possibly to gain the attention of an ex-boyfriend.
The prosecution fought to limit defense questioning, but was rebuffed by the Colorado Supreme Court. The hearing will be the first time the woman has faced Bryant since their encounter last summer.
Colorado's rape-shield law, like others around the country, generally bars defense attorneys from bringing up information about an alleged victim's sex life. The idea is to prevent the defense from depicting the alleged victim as a woman of loose morals. Judges, however, can hear such testimony in private to determine whether the information is relevant and admissible as evidence.
The woman's name and photos of her are splashed almost weekly on the covers of supermarket tabloids and can easily be found online. Court filings are posted on the Internet for anyone to see.
"This is the most harmful misuse of the rape-shield law I have ever seen," Wendy Murphy, a former prosecutor who teaches at the New England School of Law, she said of the Bryant case. "Without it, the defense would have nothing to point to to drag her into court."
Nationally, 84 percent of sexual assault victims do not go to police, most out of fear people will learn about the assault or that they will be blamed for the attack, according to a 1992 study by the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.
"If it's germane to the case, it should be brought out. That's due process and there's no problem with that from advocates in the field," Best said. "It's having other kinds of information made available" that creates a problem.
Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert has said in court filings the defense wants information about the woman's sexual activities from summer 2002 to August 2003, a range he said was too broad. The judge can halt questions he believes are unfair or irrelevant and prosecutors can object.
The hearing about the woman's sexual activities is scheduled to end Wednesday. Another closed-door hearing resumes Thursday on a request by Bryant's lawyers to throw out evidence including the NBA star's recorded statements to investigators and a T-shirt stained with the accuser's blood.
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not to get on a soapbox here, but...
It really burns my butt to see the alleged victim put on trial. What the h&ll difference does it make if she has had sex with the entire state of Colorado? If she said no, he had no business proceeding.
And if this happened the way he said it happened, how's come Bryant has a t-shirt stained with her blood on it?
