by Charlie Brennan
DENVER, Colorado, Aug 10 (AFP) - The woman who accused Kobe Bryant of raping her on Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit against the NBA star, as the criminal case against him appeared to hang in the balance.
The alleged victim filed a lawsuit against Bryant Tuesday in the US District Court in Denver, Colorado, six days after her lawyers warned she may withdraw from the criminal case and file a civil suit.
The action, which requires a lower standard of proof than a criminal charge, seeks more than 75,000 dollars in damages from the Los Angeles Lakers guard who has denied raping the woman and says the sex was consensual.
Denver attorney and former Colorado Criminal Defense Bar president Dan Recht, who has been following the Bryant case, said the federal lawsuit signalled the death knell to Bryant`s criminal prosecution.
"I think it foreshadows a dismissal of the criminal case and I think the civil lawyers knew that, when they filed this," said Recht.
"We`re going to see the victim urge the prosecution to dismiss the case, and we`re going to see the prosecution agree to dismiss the case, based on the urging of the victim."
Identified in the eight-page filing as "Jane Doe," the accuser was described as a 19-year-old resident of Eagle, Colorado who was a hotel employee when the alleged sexual assault took place on June 30, 2003.
The alleged victim, the civil suit states, has suffered physical pain and suffering as a result of the alleged attack, and has been subjected to "public scorn, hatred and ridicule and has suffered threats against her life and physical safety."
Also, the lawsuit for the first time makes the claim that Bryant`s alleged assault on the young woman in the Colorado mountain resort of Edwards is not the first time he has assaulted behavior against a woman.
"Defendant Bryant has a history of attempting to commit similar acts of violent sexual assault on females he has just met and has thereby established a pattern and practice of such unlawful acts," the suit stated.
Bryant`s criminal trial is scheduled to start on August 27, but the lawyers who filed the civil suit said last week that the accuser may reconsider testifying against him after the trial judge ruled that details of her sex life near the time of the alleged rape could be brought into evidence.
"She`s obviously got to rethink what she`s going to do," attorney Lin Wood told ABC television last week.
Wood refused to comment Tuesday on the lawsuit, citing a gag order by Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle, who is presiding over the criminal case.
A series of recent developments seen as damaging to the prosecution case had triggered strong speculation that the prosecution could be thrown into extreme jeopardy or that prosecutors might extend Bryant a lenient plea bargain option.
But a spokeswoman for Eagle County prosecutor Mark Hurlbert said the lawsuit did not affect his plans to take Bryant`s criminal case to trial later this month.
"As far as the district attorney`s office is concerned, the filing of the civil suit has no impact on the status of the criminal case that`s in district court," said Krista Flannigan. "We`re still moving forward."
But former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman said the lawsuit, coming 17 days before the start of jury selection in the criminal case, could have an enormous impact on that trial.
"I think that it`s a high-stakes game of poker, and the accuser just turned over another card," Silverman said. "Both sides are still in the game, and nobody has folded yet."
The expert added that the civil suit demanding damages from the star, who recently signed a new 136.4 million dollars seven-year contract with the Lakers, could also open another avenue for the defense which could now suggest that the accuser`s allegations were spurred by financial motives.
Silverman said he also thought that a plea bargain in the criminal case was now less likely.
"I would expect civil settlement discussions (in the civil suit) would take place, rather than plea discussions," he said Silverman.
"I find it hard to believe that Kobe Bryant would now plead to any kind of criminal offense. The odds of that went further down with the filing of this civil lawsuit.