KOBE BRYANT CASE Defense team: Victim waived privacy rights

That's what lawyers will argue at a hearing today.
EAGLE, Colo. (AP) -- If Kobe Bryant's defense attorneys get their way, people close to his accuser could be forced to testify about what the 19-year-old woman has said regarding her medical condition and prescription drugs.
The question of whether the woman has told others about such details was the primary reason for a hearing today in which defense attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon hoped to convince a judge that her medical records could be used as evidence in Bryant's sexual assault trial.
Bryant's defense team also will try to show mental problems might have affected her perception of what happened in a hotel room with Bryant on June 30. The woman says she was raped; Bryant has maintained that they had consensual sex.
Basis
Under state law and a 2002 state Supreme Court decision, Bryant's lawyers would have to prove that she told people about her medical history and that the information is relevant to the case.
In Colorado, a patient's medical records cannot even be reviewed by a judge in private unless the patient consents or otherwise gives up privacy rights. In the Bryant case, the woman has not told her doctors they can release the records.
But Mackey and Haddon have indicated in court filings that during Friday's hearing, they will argue that the woman has waived her privacy because she told a police officer and others about her medical condition.
The defense's witness list is sealed, but prosecutors have confirmed that Bryant's lawyers have subpoenaed the woman's mother to testify. At least one friend also has been subpoenaed.
Bryant, 25, is free on $25,000 bond. He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault. Bryant will be at the hearing. The Lakers play at home tonight.
An attorney for the woman has asked state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle to close the courtroom for any testimony regarding her medical history. The judge has not ruled on the request.
Analysts said the defense needs to do everything it can to undermine the woman's credibility at trial.
"The prosecution is desperate to say in closing, 'Why would this woman make it up?' All the defense is doing is saying, 'Judge, don't tie our hands behind our back, we want to give an answer,' " said Denver attorney Larry Pozner, former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.
Among the records the defense wants to use are documents from the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, where authorities brought the 19-year-old woman in February after determining she was a "danger to herself."