Kobe Bryant must face a rape trial that could put him in prison for life – but the case against the L.A. Lakers superstar is far from a slam dunk, a Colorado judge ruled yesterday.
Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett warned that “almost all the evidence” presented at a preliminary hearing did “not support a finding of probable cause” against the athlete.

The judge chided prosecutors for failing to put up more of their evidence. “The People presented, despite the court’s consistent comments and admonitions … what can only be described as a minimal amount of evidence,” Gannett wrote in a nine-page ruling.

Gannett pointed to inconsistencies in the 19-year-old accuser’s statements to police, noting her failure to tell cops in her first interview that she told Bryant “no” when he began to grope her in his hotel room.

But Gannett refused to throw out the charges against Bryant, saying the standard of proof to send a defendant to trial is relatively low under Colorado law.

With that in mind, Gannett found that prosecutors had presented enough evidence “to induce reasonable belief” that Bryant may have committed rape on June 30.

The evidence included photos of the woman’s vaginal injuries and a small bruise on her jaw, as well as blood on her underwear and inside Bryant’s T-shirt.

Bryant is set to return to Eagle on Nov. 10 for his first appearance in state district court. He will listen to the charges against him and could enter a plea.

Bryant, 25, who insists he and the woman had consensual sex, was asked about the matter earlier yesterday after a Lakers’ practice session near Los Angeles. “What courtroom?” he replied.

But he admitted being a bit anxious. “I’ve pretty much done all I can,” he said. “Now I’ll let God carry me the rest of the way.”

The celebrity trial – expected to rival the legal and media circus that surrounded the O.J. Simpson case – will begin sometime next year.

Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert, who maintains he held back evidence against the NBA star at the hearing, said he was pleased with the decision. “We had confidence all along in the case and presentation of evidence,” Hurlbert said.

Bryant’s laywers shrugged off the ruling as expected but predicted: “We will prevail at trial.”

Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor, called the decision a meaningless victory for the prosecution. “This case is in need of a mercy killing,” he said. “The prosecution is going to need an award-winning performance from the accuser to get a conviction.”

Norm Early, a former Denver district attorney, disagreed, saying, “The judge severely limited what the prosecution and defense could put on at the hearing.”

In a two-day hearing that ended last Wednesday, prosecutors called one witness: Sheriff’s Detective Doug Winters.

Winters testified that the accuser told him that Bryant grabbed her around the neck, bent her over a chair and raped her. The attack at a posh resort where the woman worked ended with Bryant forcing her to kiss his penis, Winters said.

But much of Winters’ testimony was dismantled by Bryant’s lead lawyer, Pamela Mackey, who took aim at the woman’s credibility.

Mackey got Winters to admit that the woman went to her rape exam wearing panties with the semen of another man. She also suggested the woman’s vaginal tearing may have been caused by consensual sex.

Judging the evidence

The case against Kobe

Accuser swears Bryant grabbed her throat and raped her.

Accuser’s blood found on Kobe’s T-shirt.

Nurse said vaginal injuries not from consensual sex.

Accuser was upset when she told bellman of attack.

Photos of injuries suggest “submission and force.”
His defense

“Minimal” evidence presented against Bryant.

Accuser’s underwear contained semen and pubic hair not from Bryant.

Photos of vaginal injuries of “limited evidentiary value.”

Accuser made inconsistent statements.

First person to encounter accuser said she “did not look or sound as if there had been any problem.”