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The woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault overdosed twice in the past five months, according to police reports and witness accounts.
University of Northern Colorado officials this week said that on Feb. 25, the woman had to be taken by University of Northern Colorado campus police to a hospital. She was a student at UNC in Greeley.
UNC Police Chief Terry Urista said that about 9 p.m. Feb. 25, UNC police responded to a call in a residence hall involving Bryant's accuser. Urista refused to comment on details of the incident.
"We did respond to the residence hall," Urista told the UNC Mirror, the university's newspaper. "We took her into custody and transported her to the hospital."
He declined to say whether it was a suicide attempt.
"An officer determined she was a danger to herself," he said. "It's classified as a mental health issue."
The latest report comes on the heels of confirmed reports that the 19-year-old Eagle woman ingested too many prescription pills this spring and had to be rushed from her parents' home to a hospital. That overdose came in the midst of a series of emotional upheavals the alleged victim suffered, including a tumultuous breakup with a boyfriend and the death of her best friend in an automobile accident.
DA had information
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, who was not available for comment Thursday night, was aware of this spring's overdose in Eagle for at least a week before announcing last Friday that he was convinced the evidence was strong enough to charge Bryant with Class 3 felony sexual assault. If convicted, Bryant faces decades-long probation up to life in prison.
According to the complaint, Bryant, 24, had sex with the woman against her will June 30 at the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, where the woman worked at the front desk and where Bryant was a guest from June 30 to July 2.
Bryant is scheduled to appear in Eagle County Court before Judge Fred Gannett at 4 p.m. Aug. 6 to be advised of his rights.
The woman's name has been on the radio in at least 60 cities and posted on various Internet sites, complete with address, phone number and, in several cases, photographs of the wrong women.
Media focus on her is angering some who say the spotlight is making her a victim all over again. The release of her name is an invasion of her privacy, said District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Krista Flannigan, who is also a victim advocate with experience in several high-profile cases.
"All assault victims' names are supposed to be protected," she said. "It's a safety and security issue, especially with higher profile cases. Once they are exposed, they really feel it's another violation. The victim is revictimized."
Friends said the woman is strong enough to withstand the media attention.
Evidence not evident
Whether information about the two overdose incidents will be admitted during the trial is just one of dozens of decisions judges must make in the case.
Robert Pugsley, a criminal law professor at Southwestern University in Los Angeles, said if the two incidents turn out to be suicide attempts, they could weaken the prosecution's case.
"The more these indications of instability emerge, the more difficult it might prove for the prosecutor to persuade the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that this young woman did not misinterpret the event," he said.
Another legal expert said the suicide attempt claims may never be heard at trial.
Christopher Mueller, a law professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, said judges can exclude evidence that exposes a witness to undue embarrassment if it isn't essential to the charges.
"When there is no connection proven, that argument becomes pretty difficult," he said. "A court may very well bar it."
Mueller also said the defense will think "long and hard" about whether to label Bryant's accuser unstable and suicidal. "To attack a person who comes into a court as a victim is always a tricky thing," he said.
Kelly McBride, a member of the ethics faculty for the Poynter Institute, a school for practicing journalists, said people willing to talk who aren't close to the victim can distort the coverage of a story like this.
"The further they are away, the more they may want to jump on the bandwagon and tell their part of the story, but the less legitimate the journalistic connection is," said McBride, who has spent the last year studying how the media covers sex assault. "Even if it's all true, does that mean at all it's possible that she wasn't raped?"
Open records request
Colorado Mountain News Media and the Vail Daily requested similar records from the Eagle Police Department and the town of Vail to those provided by the UNC police to the Mirror, the Greeley Tribune and The Associated Press. The Daily has requested dispatch records involving Bryant's accuser from the Eagle Police Department and town of Vail, where the countywide emergency services dispatch center is located. Authorities have refused to release the normally public information.
Vail Daily attorney Rohn Robbins argued that the records are administrative and should be available to the public. Town of Eagle attorney Ed Sands and Vail Town Attorney Matt Mire countered that the records are part of the criminal investigation surrounding the Bryant case, and should remain sealed.
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert filed a brief Wednesday supporting Eagle and Vail's positions.
Eagle County Judge Richard Hart is expected to rule on the matter next week.
The Greeley Tribune and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
University of Northern Colorado officials this week said that on Feb. 25, the woman had to be taken by University of Northern Colorado campus police to a hospital. She was a student at UNC in Greeley.
UNC Police Chief Terry Urista said that about 9 p.m. Feb. 25, UNC police responded to a call in a residence hall involving Bryant's accuser. Urista refused to comment on details of the incident.
"We did respond to the residence hall," Urista told the UNC Mirror, the university's newspaper. "We took her into custody and transported her to the hospital."
He declined to say whether it was a suicide attempt.
"An officer determined she was a danger to herself," he said. "It's classified as a mental health issue."
The latest report comes on the heels of confirmed reports that the 19-year-old Eagle woman ingested too many prescription pills this spring and had to be rushed from her parents' home to a hospital. That overdose came in the midst of a series of emotional upheavals the alleged victim suffered, including a tumultuous breakup with a boyfriend and the death of her best friend in an automobile accident.
DA had information
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, who was not available for comment Thursday night, was aware of this spring's overdose in Eagle for at least a week before announcing last Friday that he was convinced the evidence was strong enough to charge Bryant with Class 3 felony sexual assault. If convicted, Bryant faces decades-long probation up to life in prison.
According to the complaint, Bryant, 24, had sex with the woman against her will June 30 at the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, where the woman worked at the front desk and where Bryant was a guest from June 30 to July 2.
Bryant is scheduled to appear in Eagle County Court before Judge Fred Gannett at 4 p.m. Aug. 6 to be advised of his rights.
The woman's name has been on the radio in at least 60 cities and posted on various Internet sites, complete with address, phone number and, in several cases, photographs of the wrong women.
Media focus on her is angering some who say the spotlight is making her a victim all over again. The release of her name is an invasion of her privacy, said District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Krista Flannigan, who is also a victim advocate with experience in several high-profile cases.
"All assault victims' names are supposed to be protected," she said. "It's a safety and security issue, especially with higher profile cases. Once they are exposed, they really feel it's another violation. The victim is revictimized."
Friends said the woman is strong enough to withstand the media attention.
Evidence not evident
Whether information about the two overdose incidents will be admitted during the trial is just one of dozens of decisions judges must make in the case.
Robert Pugsley, a criminal law professor at Southwestern University in Los Angeles, said if the two incidents turn out to be suicide attempts, they could weaken the prosecution's case.
"The more these indications of instability emerge, the more difficult it might prove for the prosecutor to persuade the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that this young woman did not misinterpret the event," he said.
Another legal expert said the suicide attempt claims may never be heard at trial.
Christopher Mueller, a law professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, said judges can exclude evidence that exposes a witness to undue embarrassment if it isn't essential to the charges.
"When there is no connection proven, that argument becomes pretty difficult," he said. "A court may very well bar it."
Mueller also said the defense will think "long and hard" about whether to label Bryant's accuser unstable and suicidal. "To attack a person who comes into a court as a victim is always a tricky thing," he said.
Kelly McBride, a member of the ethics faculty for the Poynter Institute, a school for practicing journalists, said people willing to talk who aren't close to the victim can distort the coverage of a story like this.
"The further they are away, the more they may want to jump on the bandwagon and tell their part of the story, but the less legitimate the journalistic connection is," said McBride, who has spent the last year studying how the media covers sex assault. "Even if it's all true, does that mean at all it's possible that she wasn't raped?"
Open records request
Colorado Mountain News Media and the Vail Daily requested similar records from the Eagle Police Department and the town of Vail to those provided by the UNC police to the Mirror, the Greeley Tribune and The Associated Press. The Daily has requested dispatch records involving Bryant's accuser from the Eagle Police Department and town of Vail, where the countywide emergency services dispatch center is located. Authorities have refused to release the normally public information.
Vail Daily attorney Rohn Robbins argued that the records are administrative and should be available to the public. Town of Eagle attorney Ed Sands and Vail Town Attorney Matt Mire countered that the records are part of the criminal investigation surrounding the Bryant case, and should remain sealed.
District Attorney Mark Hurlbert filed a brief Wednesday supporting Eagle and Vail's positions.
Eagle County Judge Richard Hart is expected to rule on the matter next week.
The Greeley Tribune and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
