People v. Bryant

• Decision Date: 19 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 04SA200.,04SA200.
• Citation: 94 P.3d 624
• Parties: In re The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff v. Kobe Bean BRYANT, Defendant.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

94 P.3d 624

In re The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff v. Kobe Bean BRYANT, Defendant.

No. 04SA200.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

July 19, 2004.

Faegre & Benson, L.L.P., Thomas B. Kelley, Steven D. Zansberg, Christopher P. Beall, Eileen Kiernan-Johnson, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Petitioners, The Associated Press; CBS Broadcasting, Inc.; Denver Post Corporation; ESPN, Inc.; FOX News Network, L.L.P.; Los Angeles Times; and Warner Brothers Domestic Television.

Ken Salazar, Attorney General, Matthew D. Grove, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondent, District Court for Eagle County.

Mark Hurlbert, District Attorney, Matthew S. Holman, First Assistant Attorney General and Special Deputy District Attorney, Eagle, Colorado, Attorneys for District Attorney, Fifth Judicial District.

Justice HOBBS delivered the opinion of the court.

Pursuant to C.A.R. 21, we accepted jurisdiction in this original proceeding to review an order by the District Court for Eagle County in a criminal prosecution against Kobe B. Bryant for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman. In accordance with section 18-3-407(2), 6 C.R.S. (2003), ("rape shield statute")¹ the District Court, on June 21 and 22, 2004, held in camera proceedings regarding the "relevancy and materiality of evidence of specific instances of the victim's ... prior or subsequent sexual conduct, or opinion evidence of the victim's ... sexual conduct." § 18-3-407(2)(a).

On June 24, 2004, the court reporter mistakenly sent the transcripts of the in camera proceedings by electronic transmission to seven media entities ("Recipients") via an electronic mailing list for subscribers to public proceeding transcripts in the case, instead of using only the electronic mailing list for persons authorized to receive transcripts of in camera proceedings. There is no dispute that this was an error, and no dispute that the Recipients would otherwise not have received the transcripts.

The District Court's October 31, 2003, order previously entered in this case prohibits court personnel from disclosing to any unauthorized person information that is not part of the court's public records:

Court personnel shall not disclose to any unauthorized person information relating to a pending criminal case that is not part of the public records of the court and that is likely to create a grave danger of imminent and substantial harm to the fairness of the trial proceedings.

Upon discovering the transmission mistake, the court reporter immediately notified the District Court, which promptly issued its June 24th order to the Recipients:

It has come to the Court's attention that the in camera portions of the hearings in this matter on the 21st and 22nd were erroneously distributed. These transcripts are not for public dissemination. Anyone who has received these transcripts is ordered to delete and destroy any copies and not reveal any contents thereof, or be subject to contempt of Court.

So Ordered this 24th day of June 2004.

Four days later, the Recipients filed their original proceeding petition, asking that we exercise jurisdiction to review the District Court's order and set it aside as an unconstitutional prior restraint against publication, in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and article II, section 10 of the Colorado Constitution. Keeping the District Court's order in effect for purposes of our accelerated review, we have received answer briefs from the Colorado Attorney General on behalf of the District Court and from the District Attorney for Eagle County. The Recipients filed their reply brief. We now enter our decision.

We determine that the District Court's order is a prior restraint against publishing the contents of the transcripts. We also determine that, narrowly tailored, the prior restraint is constitutional under both the United States and the Colorado Constitutions. The state has an interest of the highest order in this case in providing a confidential evidentiary proceeding under the rape shield statute, because such hearings protect victims' privacy, encourage victims to report sexual assault, and further the prosecution and deterrence of sexual assault.

For purposes of this opinion we assume that the District Court could rule that some of the contents of the June 21 and June 22 in camera hearings may be relevant and material and therefore admissible at the public trial. The state's interest will be served by preventing the further dissemination and any reporting of all or any portion of the contents of the in camera transcripts that are not relevant and material under the rape shield statute. We strike that portion of the District Court's order that requires Recipients to delete the electronic transmission and destroy any and all copies of the in camera transcripts. Consistent with the First Amendment and the state's interest, we therefore order the District Court to: (1) make its rape shield rulings as expeditiously as possible and promptly enter its findings of facts and conclusions of law thereon; (2) determine if some or all portions of the June 21 and June 22 transcripts are relevant and material and, therefore, admissible under the rape shield statute at trial; and (3) enter an appropriate order, which may include releasing to the Recipients and the public a redacted version of the June 21 and June 22 transcripts that contains those portions that are relevant and material in the case, if any, and maintains the ongoing confidentiality of portions that are irrelevant and immaterial, if any.

Although we believe the District Court's order is also sufficiently clear and narrow on this point, we emphasize that our judgment applies only to the contents of the June 21 and June 22 in camera transcripts. Publication of information the media has obtained or obtains by its own investigative capacities is not limited by the District Court's order or our judgment, even though such information may also be spoken of or referred to in the transcripts.

I. Facts and Procedural Background

By its Complaint/Information dated July 18, 2003, the state of Colorado alleges that Defendant Bryant, on June 30, 2003, committed forcible sexual penetration of a woman in Eagle County, Colorado, against her will, in violation of sections 18-3-402(1)(a), -402(4)(a), 6 C.R.S. (2002) a class 3 felony. The District Court has scheduled the trial to begin on August 27, 2004.

This criminal prosecution has received extraordinary media attention from the outset, fueled by Defendant Bryant's international reputation as an all-star professional basketball player and the sexual assault charge made against him. In order to facilitate public access to the proceedings in this case, the Eagle County District Court — through the State Court Administrator's Office — has maintained an electronic scheduling archive on the Colorado Courts' webpage that contains links to publicly accessible documents.²

Among these publicly accessible documents is the June 17, 2004, memorandum addressed by the District Court to "Members of the Media." It states that the District Court will hold hearings at the Eagle County Justice Center on the Bryant case on Monday, June 21, and Tuesday, June 22, 2004, a portion of which will be open to the public and a portion closed: "The courtroom will be open for the opening portions of this proceeding ... the remainder of the proceeding will be conducted in closed court." June 17, 2004 Memorandum to Members of the Media, at http://www.courts.state.co.us/exec/media/eagle/seating/june_21-22_ memo.doc.

The June 18, 2004 "Amended Scheduling Order For June 21st and 22nd Hearing" lists eight items that will be held in open court and five items that will be held in camera after completion of the open matters. The in camera items are listed as:

1. Oral argument re: Defense Motion to Strike Testimony of Dr. Baden.

2. Other issues with regard to endorsed expert witnesses.

3. Continuation and Completion of Rape Shield Evidence.

4. Further proceedings concerning Crime Victim Compensation Records, including Defense Motion for Use at Trial.

5. Any other outstanding issues.

As the scheduling order intimates, the District Court has held prior in camera proceedings involving rape shield evidence, and transcripts of them have not been available except to the parties and persons authorized by the District Court to have and review them. The court reporter mistakenly transmitted the transcribed in camera proceedings for June 21 and 22, along with the transcribed public proceedings for June 21, to the Recipients. The notation " * * IN CAMERA PROCEEDINGS * * " is marked on every page of the transcript containing information from the closed portions of the proceedings. The mistake occurred because the court reporter maintained an electronic list for media entities subscribing to transcripts of the public proceedings in the case.

Our review of the transcripts under seal demonstrates that the pages bearing the label " * * IN CAMERA PROCEEDINGS * * " are concerned with evidence and arguments relating to the victim's sexual conduct before and after her sexual encounter with the Defendant Bryant. As recited in their "Emergency Petition for Immediate Relief in the Nature of Prohibition or Mandamus and for Issuance of a Rule to Show Cause Pursuant to C.A.R. 21" filed with us on June 28, 2004, Recipients were preparing stories about the in camera proceedings when they received notification of the District Court's June 24, 2004, signed order preventing further release of the contents of the in camera transcripts.

We exercised our original jurisdiction on June 29, 2004, and ordered expedited briefing. Recipients contend that the District Court's order is an unconstitutional prior restraint violating the First Amendment. The Attorney General and the District Attorney for Eagle County contend that the order is not a prior restraint, or...