Colorado- Kobe Bryant’s lawyers yesterday claimed in bombshell court papers that Kate Faber, the woman accusing him of rape had sex with a different man less than 15 hours after their encounter.

The defense – pushing to put Bryant’s 19-year-old accuser on the hot seat for her alleged wild past – also leveled the shocking claim that she had sex with two prosecution witnesses. In making the stunning charges, the lawyers mocked what they said was the prosecution’s claim that the young woman suffered “posttraumatic stress disorder” after allegedly being raped by the basketball superstar in a ritzy Colorado spa last summer.

The developments came as the Colorado judge handling the case reversed himself in the 11th hour last night and agreed to reconsider the scope of questioning the woman will have to undergo at the hands of the defense. Only hours earlier, state district Judge Terry Ruckriegle had said prosecutors were too late in asking him to limit the questioning. But after a closed-door powwow that included testimony from one of the girl’s ex-boyfriends, the judge said he would take more time to weigh the issue.

He is expected to issue a ruling today. The delay postponed today’s expected face-to-face showdown between the basketball star and his accuser, also behind closed doors. That is now likely to take place later this month. When it does occur, the defense’s questioning of the woman could be extremely nasty, depending on what the judge allows, experts said. “It [could] be X-rated,” said Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor.

“Not only would she be asked about other sex acts with other men, but [she also would be] asked about the foreplay that preceded those sex acts. She’ll be asked about sexual positions and other things that no normal person would want to answer, let alone under oath.”

The prosecution, hoping to limit the defense’s line of questioning, said in court papers,: “It is a humiliating fishing expedition which the prosecution seeks to prevent.”

Meanwhile, the judge yesterday ordered prosecutors to turn over to the defense two pairs of the woman’s underwear. The defense said the underwear is evidence that will prove its claim that the woman had sex with other men before or perhaps after her encounter with Bryant.

Ruckriegle said the underwear – worn by the accuser the night of the alleged attack and the next day when she went to a hospital for an examination – must be handed over within 24 hours.

“The court finds the prosecution’s refusal to turn over the evidence to be without merit,” he said. Bryant’s defense team wants to question the accuser on her sexual history to attack her credibility and bolster claims that she had multiple sex partners before her encounter with Bryant last summer.

On the accusation that she had sex with someone less than 15 hours after the alleged rape – and had sex with two “witnesses” – Silverman said: “If the defense can put before a jury that she had sex with some man after Kobe, and before she went to the cops, then the prosecution has no chance of winning.”

Learning more about the accuser’s sexual past is key to the defense, which contends that someone other than Bryant caused injuries to the accuser’s private parts near the time of the alleged assault.

A rape examination found minor cuts on the woman’s genitals. Her blood also was found on a shirt Bryant wore the night of the alleged attack. The prosecution asserts Bryant caused those injuries when he bent her over a chair and assaulted her from behind during an alleged June 30 rape.

Prosecutors have accused Bryant’s attorneys of flouting Colorado’s strict “rape shield” law, which restricts defense attorneys from probing into the sexual histories of supposed-assault victims.

“The defense … intends to humiliate and embarrass her with allegations of conduct which have no bearing on this case whatsoever,” Prosecutor Dana Easter wrote. “It is a humiliating fishing expedition which the prosecution seeks to prevent.”

Colorado Judge W. Terry Ruckriegle has already discouraged members of the media from disseminating the image or name of Faber, but has not issued an order restraining media outlets from doing so. Supermarket tabloids have already released photographs of Faber.

Last summer, according to the New York Daily News, eye-witnesses told NBC news that Ms. Faber appeared at a party three-days before Mr. Bryant was charged with rape, where she bragged about the alleged assault, and provided a graphic description of Mr. Bryant’s anatomy.

“She was bragging about the whole thing,” Steve Evancho told NBC news, adding that she seemed “happy. She was having fun.”

According to Bryant’s attorneys, the police examination of Faber’s underwear conducted the day after the alleged assault found evidence of another man’s semen and pubic hair – suggesting that she had had at least two different sexual partners since her last underwear change.

If found guilty, Bryant faces 4 years to life imprisonment, and fines ranging from $3,000 to $750,000.