Kobe Bryant's defense denied rape center records

[Walter Cronkite]

Kobe Bryant's attorneys cannot have access to notes taken by a rape crisis center worker during an interview with the NBA star's accuser, at least until a higher court considers the matter, a judge ruled Monday.

Eagle County Court Judge Frederick Gannett said the defense can have training materials from the Resource Center of Eagle County. But he said their request for notes from any interviews with the woman cannot be answered until after a hearing in state district court.

Attorneys for the woman and for the center had asked Gannett to reject the defense subpoena, saying the notes are confidential and can't be released unless the woman waives her medical privacy rights.

Bryant's attorneys, Hal Haddon and Pamela Mackey, issued a subpoena Sept. 5 to the center, which runs a hot line, counsels victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, and provides shelter.

Bryant, 25, is accused of raping a 19-year-old woman June 30 at the mountain resort where she worked. The Los Angeles Lakers' star has said the two had consensual sex.

He is free on $25,000 bond and scheduled to return to county court Thursday for a preliminary hearing that will determine whether he will stand trial on a felony charge of sexual assault.

Some legal experts have predicted Bryant's attorneys will waive the preliminary hearing, sending the case to district court. If that happens, he could be arraigned as early as Thursday.

His lawyers are also seeking the woman's medical records from several hospitals and a clinic at the University of Northern Colorado, where she was a student last year.

As he did Monday with the crisis center records, Gannett said last week that the question of whether the woman has waived her privacy rights on the medical records should be handled in a hearing before a district judge.

Source: AP