A 19-year-old woman who accuses basketball star Kobe Bryant of rape pleaded with a judge on Thursday to set a trial date soon because she has received hundreds of death threats over the case and her life has been ripped apart.
"She has been forced to quit school, she cannot live at home, she cannot talk to her friends, and she has received literally hundreds of phone calls and e-mails threatening either death or mutilation," a motion to the court by her attorney said.
"None of these consequences will end until after this case goes to trial," said the motion prepared by lawyer John Clune.
On Wednesday the woman testified in a closed hearing about her sexual history, which defence lawyers argue should be admitted at trial to show that injuries to her genital area could have been caused by a man other than Bryant.
The woman's name has not been released.
Her mother also wrote to the court in Eagle, Colorado, saying her daughter has lived in four states in the past six months and is followed around by the defence and the media.
"No one else involved in this case has had to make the life changes and compromises that my daughter has had to make and will need to continue to make until this case is over," the mother wrote. She said as soon as her daughter gets a job in a new town and meets people, someone figures out who she is and then the media begin following her.
Usually, it is the defence that scores the headlines with filings during pre-trial hearings, including ones that have disparaged the woman. But this time her account of how her life has been turned upside down was at the forefront. Three men, one from Iowa and two from California, have been arrested for threatening the woman.
Graceful Way Out?
Craig Silverman, a former chief deputy prosecutor in Denver who is observing the case, said the motion might be setting the stage to end the case if the woman does not want to go forward, particularly if the defence wins everything it wants in pre-trial hearings.
"This could be the start of a graceful exit strategy," Silverman said.
Attorneys for the Los Angeles Lakers have tried to attack the woman's account of what happened on June 30 last year at a Colorado resort where she worked and Bryant was staying while he had outpatient surgery on his knee.
The woman's written filing specifically asked Judge Terry Ruckriegle for a "swift resolution" of motions before the court. "In the interest of the victim's safety and to prevent even further harm as a consequence of reporting criminal conduct, the victim asks this court to set this case for trial," the motion said.
The court has given no indication when the trial will start. But it may not be soon. This week's two-day hearing dealt with Colorado's rape shield act, which bars the sexual past of an accuser from being admitted at trial unless it is relevant to showing guilt or innocence.
The defence has subpoenaed the woman's friends to ask them about her sexual history and mental stability.
After Wednesday's daylong hearing Bryant flew back to Los Angeles where he scored 36 points and helped the Lakers beat division rivals the Sacramento Kings 115-91.
At Thursday's hearing the woman's former boyfriend testified for more than an hour. The defence contends that she tried to commit suicide twice to gain the attention of ex-boyfriend Matt Herr and that her accusation against Bryant should be seen in light of that.
Thursday's closed hearing also took up a defence motion to suppress a tape of an interview Bryant had with police a day after the woman said he raped her. The matter will be taken up again on April 2, court spokeswoman Karen Salaz said.
Another round of hearings will also be held in late April.
Bryant has denied he raped the woman, saying that they had consensual sex. The 25-year-old Bryant, who is married and the father of a 14-month-old girl, has said he regrets the encounter.
