Kobe Bryant Willing to Settle Civil Suit

[Walter Cronkite]

Attorneys for Kobe Bryant and the woman who accused him of sexual assault have filed long lists of people they want to interview for her civil suit against him, including the NBA star, his wife and a woman he told police he had extramarital sex with.

A court filing released Thursday also indicates the two sides have discussed the possibility of a negotiated settlement, and that Bryant is willing to start mediation toward a settlement before any of the interviews take place.

The woman's lawsuit in Denver federal court seeks unspecified damages for pain, scorn and ridicule the woman says she has suffered since her encounter with Bryant at the Vail-area resort where she worked in June 2003.

Bryant's attorneys say the woman was an "eager, willing participant."

Prosecutors dropped a sexual assault charge against the 26-year-old Bryant on Sept. 1 after the woman said she no longer wanted to participate in the criminal case. She had filed the civil suit about three weeks earlier.

The attorneys' plans for depositions -- interviews of potential witnesses conducted under oath but without a judge present -- were revealed in a court document dated Wednesday but made public on Thursday.

Bryant's attorneys want to take depositions from the 20-year-old woman, her parents, a former boyfriend and numerous friends and acquaintances, the court filing shows.

Bryant faces an all-day deposition in December, but no date has been set, said L. Lin Wood, one of the woman's attorneys. Bryant's attorneys scheduled an all-day deposition with the woman on Feb. 1.

The court document says the woman's lawyers would agree to mediation after the depositions are taken but Bryant's attorneys are willing to go to mediation before that.

Legal experts said that indicates Bryant wants to avoid being interviewed under oath by the woman's attorneys.

"She has been required to be under oath and give her side of the story in the criminal case," said Dan Recht, former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar. "He's seemingly willing to negotiate prior to either of their depositions in an effort to avoid being deposed."

Denver attorney Scott Robinson said the woman's attorneys also might be trying to pressure Bryant into an early, large settlement.

Besides Bryant's wife, Vanessa, the woman's attorneys indicated they plan to take depositions from "Michelle," a woman Bryant told criminal investigators he had sex with.

The woman's attorneys also want a deposition from Tara Vilhauer, who told ABC News in February that Bryant kissed her during his stay at a Portland, Ore., hotel where she worked in October 2002. She said Bryant stopped when she asked, and said he was "a gentleman" about it.

The woman's attorneys also listed Shaquille O'Neal and his wife Shaunie O'Neal. During Bryant's interview with Eagle County investigators, he said O'Neal had paid up to $1 million to various women to keep quiet about situations like Bryant's. Shaquille O'Neal, who now plays for the Miami Heat, has dismissed those allegations as "ridiculous."

Also in the document, the woman's attorneys said they will hire experts to calculate financial damages for various alleged injuries including physical pain; mental stress; emotional distress; past and future lost wages and medical and legal expenses; loss of privacy; and threats against her life and safety. They also said they would seek punitive damages.

Bryant's attorneys have argued that the NBA star is not to blame for any injuries or damage the woman suffered. In a court filing earlier this month, they said any harm can be blamed on the media and on the state court system, which mistakenly released the woman's name and a transcript of a closed-door hearing on her sexual activities, and on the men arrested for threatening her.

Source: AP