EAGLE, COLO. Bryant is expected to waive hearing

Kobe Bryant's lawyers want to suppress potentially damaging evidence.
EAGLE, Colo. (AP) -- Kobe Bryant's lawyers are expected to waive his preliminary hearing to keep potentially damaging evidence from being heard publicly.
If the hearing scheduled for Thursday is not waived, prosecutors will present evidence they say proves the NBA star raped a hotel worker in his room at a mountain lodge on June 30.
"If they have the hearing the public is going to hear basically all the details of what happened that night and it's going to be told from the prosecution's perspective," said Karen Steinhauser, a former prosecutor and law professor at the University of Denver.
"There's a lot of unfavorable evidence going to be brought out in public."
Denver defense attorney Dan Recht also expects Bryant's legal team to waive the preliminary hearing and acknowledge there is enough evidence for a judge to order a trial.
"There's no way the defense will win a preliminary hearing. No way. None," Recht said.
Documents sealed
Documents containing details of the investigation have been sealed since Bryant's arrest July 4, and everyone involved in the case has been silenced by a gag order.
Even if the hearing is waived, Bryant must appear Thursday in front of Judge Frederick Gannett for a bail hearing. Bryant, free on $25,000 bail, would also at some point have to appear in another court to enter a plea to the sexual assault charge.
The player's attorneys met with prosecutors and Gannett for more than an hour Tuesday, discussing what a court spokeswoman called logistical issues. Exiting the courtroom, Gannett wouldn't comment. Earlier, he said he didn't expect the issue of waiving the preliminary hearing to come up.
Attorneys were to meet with the judge once more Thursday, just 45 minutes before the hearing, to resolve other issues. At that point, defense attorneys could move to waive the hearing and take their chances at trial.