EAGLE, Colo. – The woman who accused Kobe Bryant (search) of rape will face detailed questions about her sex life when she testifies in a closed hearing in three weeks, a judge has ruled.
Hours after an attorney for Bryant's accuser denied a claim that the woman had sex with someone else the morning after the alleged attack, State District Judge Terry Ruckriegle (search) made his decision.
The 19-year-old woman is scheduled to face her alleged attacker for the first time in court in the March 24-25 hearing.
The Los Angeles Lakers (search) star's attorneys subpoenaed her in hopes her testimony would convince the judge that her sexual conduct in the days surrounding her encounter with Bryant can be used at trial.
Prosecutors had argued such questions were irrelevant and asked the judge to limit what Bryant's lawyers could ask.
Under Colorado's rape-shield law, the sexual activity of an alleged victim is presumed to be irrelevant; defense attorneys have to convince the judge otherwise.
Bryant, 25, is accused of sexually assaulting the woman on June 30 at the Vail-area resort where she worked. Bryant has said they had consensual sex.
He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of the felony sexual assault charge.
The normally stoic Bryant smiled, waved and flashed the peace sign to a dozen cheering, sign-waving children when he left the courthouse Tuesday after a two-day hearing.
In addition to the question of the woman's testimony, this week's hearing dealt with the whether she had waived her right to keep her medical records confidential and whether investigators had illegally questioned Bryant.
Ruckriegle did not immediately rule on the confidentiality question. Arguments on the investigators' question will resume at the March 24-25 hearing, also behind closed doors.
The only part of the hearing expected to be open will be arguments on the rape-shield law, which Bryant's attorneys have challenged as unconstitutional.
Defense attorneys Hal Haddon and Pamela Mackey say the details of the woman's sex life are important in determining whether she was injured by other men and whether she suffered emotional trauma, as prosecutors claim.
They also say they want to know whether she had a "plan" to sleep with Bryant to win attention from an ex-boyfriend.
The woman's attorney, John Clune, said the claim that she had sex the morning after the attack was "patently false."
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