Woman who accused Bryant of rape spoke of suing him within month of alleged attack, friend testifies

Friday, November 5th 2004, 8:26 pm

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ A month after a woman accused Kobe Bryant of rape, she told a friend she was considering suing the NBA star in civil court and wanted to buy breast augmentation surgery and a koala bear with any award money, according to court documents released Friday.

The details came in testimony from Sean Holloway, who knew the then-19-year-old woman from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

During a closed hearing March 2, defense attorney Hal Haddon asked Holloway about a conversation with the woman near the end of July 2003, about a month after the alleged assault. The hearing was to determine whether information about the woman's sexual activities could be used in court against her.

Haddon asked whether the woman had mentioned the possibility of a civil lawsuit.

``She said that after the case was over it was something that she was most likely going to do,'' Holloway said.

He testified the woman, an aspiring singer, wanted to use any award money to open a recording studio and to pay for breast augmentation surgery for herself and a friend. He also said she would buy a koala bear for another friend who liked the animals.

It is unclear whether District Judge Terry Ruckriegle had ruled on the prosecution's request to limit Holloway's testimony. Prosecutors dropped the case against Bryant on Sept. 1 after the woman said she no longer wanted to participate.

The woman, now 20, has filed a civil suit against Bryant in federal court for what she says have been months of pain and suffering since the alleged assault at a Vail-area resort where she once worked.

Attorneys for the woman did not immediately return after-hours messages.

Holloway's testimony was contained in some 500 pages of documents among previously sealed documents the judge has ordered released at the request of news organizations, including The Associated Press.

Other documents include legal arguments over the defense's desire to use crime victim compensation records as evidence in an attempt to undermine the woman's credibility.

Defense attorneys argued that the records would help prove the woman misrepresented or omitted information she had to provide to the compensation board.

In other documents, the defense argued for the ability to tell jurors that Matt Herr, a former boyfriend of the woman, had refused to provide a DNA sample to compare to evidence found on her body and clothing after the alleged assault.

Haddon said that evidence indicated the woman had sex in the hours after her encounter with Bryant but before her hospital exam the next day. Attorneys for the woman have vehemently denied she had sex with anyone immediately after Bryant.

Earlier this week, the judge released lists of evidence both sides planned to present at trial. Among the defense exhibits were 15 identified as ``Calgary photograph'' and the March 8 issue of the Globe, a supermarket tabloid that published photos of the woman at parties in Calgary, Alberta.