EAGLE, Colorado, Aug 25 (AFP) - Just two days ahead of his trial, prosecutors have charged that key DNA evidence that could prove NBA star Kobe Bryant innocent of rape might have been tainted or manipulated.
Prosecutor Dana Easter said in papers released Wednesday that contamination was found in DNA "control" samples, used as crucial evidence by the Bryant defense team to show that testing was accurate.
The district attorney`s office asked Judge Terry Ruckriegle to hold a hearing Thursday to force the National Basketball Association star`s lawyers to prove that the evidence had not been manipulated.
The trial judge agreed to the hearing on Thursday, a day before the court begins selecting 12 jurors from a pool of around 1,000 potential jurors summonsed.
DNA evidence is expected to be pivotal in the Bryant case, because the defense claims that injuries to the accuser`s genitals were caused by having multiple sexual partners in a short period of time, not by rape.
Jury selection was set to begin despite the fact the prosecution case has taken a severe battering in recent weeks following a number of rulings that went against the state.
One of the blows to the prosecution case was the accidental release of evidence given by DNA expert Elizabeth Johnson who said that tests on semen found in Bryant`s accuser`s underwear strongly indicated she had sex with another man within hours of her June 30, 2003 encounter with Bryant.
"Clearly, the prosecution is beginning a frontal attack on the defense DNA experts, Doctor Elizabeth Johnson and on Mark Taylor," said Denver defense attorney and legal analyst Scott Robinson.
"There is no other way to look at it this," said Robinson. "How much of this is an effort to discredit defense experts on the eve of trial, whether it`s for the purpose of influencing potential jurors or not, we`d have to ask prosecutors."
Bryant has denied sexual assault but admits to consensual sex with the woman in his hotel room in Edwards, Colorado.
Easter`s motion states that the "prosecution has discovered that contamination is present in samples which should show negative results," Easter stated in her motion referring to defense DNA testing results.
Also, in the same document, Easter stated that the "people have learned that data from Technical Associates Inc. (the defense`s DNA lab) appears to have been whited out or otherwise manipulated."
And, in a separate motion, Easter makes the unusual request that the defense turn over the DNA profiles of every analyst that processed evidence for Bryant`s team.
Denver attorney Andrew Cohen, a legal analyst for CBS, noted that the two sides have been challenging one another`s handling of DNA evidence for several months.
Cohen believes the judge will likely reach a compromise on the issue, not throwing the evidence out, but allowing the prosecution to cross-examine the defense experts during the trial.
"I don`t think this is an issue that knocks the evidence out altogether," said Cohen. "I think the judge is likely going to allow the prosecution to raise questions to the jury."
A conviction at trial, which is expected to last three to four weeks, could cost Bryant, 26, four years to life in prison.