KOBE BRYANT CASE Prosecutors seek assurance victim's past to be guarded

Last week's hearing was suspended, prompting a court filing.
EAGLE, Colo. (AP) -- When Kobe Bryant's defense team brought questions of his accuser's sexual history into open court, the judge called timeout and prosecutors were furious, later calling it a "deliberate and calculated" attempt to smear the victim.
If the topic comes up again when the NBA superstar's hearing on sexual assault charges resumes today, prosecutors want assurances it will happen behind closed doors.
In a sharply worded court filing Tuesday, prosecutors said defense attorney Pamela Mackey overstepped last week when she asked a witness whether the 19-year-old woman's injuries were "consistent with a person who had sex with three different men in three days."
That prompted Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett to suspend the hearing, which will determine whether the basketball star will stand trial. The 25-year-old player is free on $25,000 bond and was expected at the hearing. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Prosecutors also have asked the judge to close parts of Bryant's hearing, hoping to stop what they said was a deliberate attempt to smear the woman's reputation.
Consensual sex
Bryant has said he had consensual sex on June 30 with the woman, an employee of a mountain resort in Edwards where Bryant was staying.
Also Tuesday, prosecutors said they had received medical records mistakenly released by the hospital where the woman was examined, and had shared them with Bryant's lawyers.
Prosecutors had subpoenaed the examination records from Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs. They not only received those, but were also given records from an earlier visit by the woman, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said.
She declined to comment on the date or the nature of the earlier visit. "They were records they should not have given us," Flannigan said.
Hospital administrator Gary Brewer did not return calls Tuesday.
Flannigan said the hospital requested the records be returned and copies destroyed, and that prosecutors complied. She didn't know if defense attorneys also complied.
Gag order
Mackey's voice mail said she would not return reporters' calls. The judge has issued a gag order prohibiting those involved in the case from commenting.
The judge had earlier thrown out subpoenas issued by Bryant's attorneys for the woman's medical records. He said the trial judge should determine whether those records should be turned over if the case goes to trial.
Friends of the woman have said she tried to commit suicide in February and again in May.
Before the preliminary hearing resumes, Gannett will meet with attorneys for both sides and an attorney for media organizations to discuss whether to close all or parts of it.
Bryant's attorneys have already asked Gannett to close the hearing to the public.
Prosecutors want discussions about the accuser's sexual history to be private if the judge determines it is relevant. Prosecutor Ingrid Bakke said Colorado's rape shield law bars the use of an alleged victim's sexual history in rape cases, with few exceptions.
Legal experts said Gannett might give Mackey a chance behind closed doors to provide information to back up her suggestion the accuser had other sexual partners before her June 30 encounter with Bryant.