Kobe Bryant is due in the courtroom next Wednesday, and if his attorneys have their way there won't be any television cameras broadcasting the proceedings.
Bryant's attorneys on Tuesday asked a judge to reconsider his ruling allowing cameras in the courtroom, saying they were concerned about publicity.
Also Tuesday, Eagle County commissioners gave District Attorney Mark Hurlbert additional money to prosecute the sexual assault case against the Los Angeles Lakers star.
Bryant has said his 19-year-old accuser had sex with him willingly at a resort in nearby Edwards on June 30.
Bryant's attorneys, Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon, said they weren't given the chance to present arguments before County Judge Fred Gannett issued his ruling on cameras last week.
They also asked for a hearing on how the media should be allowed to cover court proceedings, and asked to present arguments on any future requests for expanded media coverage.
Haddon and Mackey didn't return calls seeking comment.
Meanwhile, attorneys for media organizations filed motions to open sealed court records, saying many details have already been publicized, some by Bryant and Hurlbert.
"Ironically, at the same time, both the district attorney and Bryant are opposing the very thing that would permit the public to independently test the veracity of their public relations statements, i.e., unsealing the court file," the attorneys wrote.
County commissioners gave Hurlbert an additional US$105,000 to help handle costs of the case, and left open the possibility of more.
County finance director Mike Roeper said Lake, Summit and Clear Creek counties, which make up the 5th Judicial District along with Eagle County, could be asked to contribute additional money to Hurlbert's budget, which was US$2 million before the extra allocation.
Roeper said it was the first time in his two-and-a-half years in office that a prosecutor has asked for additional funds.
Hurlbert also got some additional expertise -- Ingrid Bakke, head of Boulder County's sex assault and domestic violence unit, is on loan for up to a year to help with the case.
The case against Bryant has put Eagle in a media spotlight. Dozens of reporters are expected for Bryant's initial court appearance on a felony sexual assault charge.
Prosecutors and others have been forced to make changes to accommodate the media.
The Colorado Judicial Branch this week is expected to launch a Web site devoted to the case, its first such effort. The page will have information on hearing schedules, motions rulings and other details.
"I've had 150 calls a day. It's overwhelming," said Krista Flannigan, Hurlbert's spokeswoman. "It seemed like it was going to save a lot of us time."
The door to Hurlbert's office, which had been open to the public, is now locked and posted with a sign saying the office is closed. A phone number is posted for visitors to leave messages.
Gannett and state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle on Tuesday issued a detailed "decorum" order for reporters covering the next Wednesday's hearing.
Reporters will be barred from using cellphones and tape recorders and from interviewing people inside the courthouse.
No photos or video may be taken of witnesses, potential jurors and Bryant's accuser and her family. Courthouse parking will be reserved for people involved in the trial.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier