Witness Twist in Bryant Case

EAGLE, Colo. —  In an unusual move, Kobe Bryant’s attorneys apparently are prepared to use a government expert to counter prosecutors on critical DNA evidence taken from the Laker star’s accuser, according to a court transcript released Thursday.

Prosecutors plan to assert that DNA from a man other than Bryant could have been transferred from the woman’s underwear to her body, according to legal experts. If proved correct, this theory could undercut defense claims that the woman had sex with a man other than Bryant during the 15 hours between the alleged rape and her medical examination.

However, according to the transcript, defense lawyers had a Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA expert ready to testify at a closed hearing June 22. The expert, Yvonne Woods, was there to rebut anticipated testimony from renowned forensics expert Henry Lee, who is working with the prosecution.

“If called, she would be in rebuttal to whatever Dr. Lee testifies to,” Bryant’s lawyer Pamela Mackey said in the transcript.

Legal experts said it would be extraordinary for the defense to use Woods as a witness because the CBI has been used by prosecutors throughout the case. Woods tested DNA evidence before it was tested by defense expert Elizabeth Johnson.

“Prosecution experts are going to testify against the prosecution,” said Larry Pozner, a Denver attorney who has followed the case closely. “It happens in one out of 10,000 cases.”

The transcript was released by Judge Terry Ruckriegle, who was responding to direction from the U.S. Supreme Court. It included 15 of the 109 pages from closed hearings June 21 and 22 that were mistakenly e-mailed to seven news organizations, including The Times. Late Thursday, Ruckriegle released additional pages, but they were not immediately available.

The judge said the bulk of the transcripts will be released Monday after both sides discuss what portions should be blacked out at a hearing today in Eagle County Court. The name of the accuser and other information was blacked out in the transcripts released Thursday.

The excerpt also revealed that Bryant’s attorneys said the accuser has been paid nearly $20,000 from a public victims compensation fund “on the basis of a false allegation.” The woman was awarded about $17,000 for mental health treatment and about $2,300 in lost wages in the weeks after the alleged rape June 30, 2003.

Bryant is expected to be in court today when prosecutors are scheduled to challenge the testimony of Woods and Johnson behind closed doors.

Indications came months ago that the CBI would not back the prosecution’s “transference” theory, as Ruckriegle has referred to it in open court. CBI spokesman Pete Mang told The Times in March that “it would be highly unusual” for sperm and semen to transfer from underwear to a person’s body.

Even though the CBI tested the DNA, prosecutors in June sought to have an independent lab retest it, only to withdraw the request when Ruckriegle insisted that a defense expert be present during the testing.

Swabs taken from various parts of the accuser’s body at a medical examination 15 hours after the alleged rape contain sperm and semen from a man other than Bryant. The underwear the woman wore to the exam also contains DNA from a man other than Bryant.

That evidence was central to Ruckriegle’s ruling last week that the defense can explore the woman’s sexual conduct in the 72 hours preceding the medical exam at the trial, scheduled to begin Aug. 27. Bryant’s attorneys contend she had sex after the alleged rape and before the medical exam, which could explain her vaginal injuries and damage her credibility.

Additional evidence about the woman’s sexual conduct is contained in the disputed transcripts, which are central to a battle before the U.S. Supreme Court because Ruckriegle barred their publication.

The excerpt focused primarily on Mackey’s arguments in favor of admitting the details of the woman’s payments from the public victims compensation fund.

Weeks after making the allegations against Bryant, the woman applied for money from the fund. Mackey said in closed court that the woman received $17,000 for mental health treatment and $2,300 for loss of wages, “an extraordinary amount of money relative to the sums usually provided.”

A victim can receive no more than $20,000 from the fund under Colorado law. The woman did not exceed the limit, but Mackey noted that the woman’s mental health, drug and alcohol problems pre-dated the alleged rape.

Mackey also said the woman “has profited to an enormous amount, $20,000, I would suspect to most people in this county is a lot of money, most of our jurors, and she has done that on the basis of a false allegation and has persisted in that false allegation.”

However, Denver law professor Karen Steinhauser said the payment doesn’t go to the victim, but to the care provider.

“It’s absurd to think a jury would believe that she would be willing to go through all this just for the mental health money,” Steinhauser said.

Bryant, 25, has pleaded not guilty to felony sexual assault stemming from the encounter at a mountain resort. He has said that he and his accuser had consensual sex.