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Kobe Bryant lawyers want his sexual past off limits
Lawyers for basketball star Kobe Bryant asked a judge on Monday to order attorneys for a Colorado woman who has sued him for rape not to ask the Los Angeles Laker about his sexual past.
Criminal charges were dropped against Bryant in September after the woman -- who was 19 when she said he attacked her last year in a Vail-area hotel -- decided she could not go through the ordeal of a criminal trial in Eagle, Colorado. She had received death threats and was embarrassed by court mistakes that made her name public.
However, her civil lawsuit against the married father of one has been proceeding. Bryant is scheduled to be questioned on Tuesday by the woman's lawyers at an undisclosed location in Orange County, California, where he lives.
The two sides have been quibbling over the rules of questioning and confidentiality.
"Plaintiff's counsel has indicated that he intends to depose Mr. Bryant on sexual matters having no possible relevance to the claims and defenses in this action," Bryant's attorneys said in a court filing.
During preparations for the criminal trial, prosecutors complained that Bryant's lawyers were unfairly seeking information about the woman's sexual history.
In a letter to Bryant's lawyers that was included in Monday's court filing, the woman's attorney, Lin Wood, also said he wanted to interview Bryant's wife, Vanessa, sometime in January.
Bryant's lawyers want a federal judge to enter a confidentiality order, prohibit the young woman's lawyers from asking about his sexual history and issue a ruling that Bryant should be deposed only once even if a second lawsuit is filed in California.
Lawyers for the woman have said they are considering filing a civil lawsuit in state court in California because of strict caps on damages in Colorado.
The woman's name was made public as a condition for proceeding with the civil case in federal court, but many media organizations are not identifying her.
The burden of proof for a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit is lower than in criminal cases because a defendant faces money damages and not the risk of prison. |
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