DENVER – Attorneys for the woman accusing NBA star Kobe Bryant (search) of rape said Monday they might move her civil lawsuit to California because of Colorado's strict limits on financial damages.
Lin Wood, one of the attorneys representing the 20-year-old woman, said Colorado state law makes it difficult for a plaintiff to win more than $733,000 in damages.
"California law would provide our client with a significantly greater opportunity to be fully compensated for the injuries she suffered," Wood said.
The accuser's attorneys expect to decide whether to move the trial by the end of November. An attorney for Bryant, Pamela Mackey (search), did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The civil case accuses the Los Angeles Lakers (search) star of raping the woman in his room at the Vail-area resort hotel where she worked in June 2003. A felony sexual assault charge against Bryant was dropped in September after the woman decided she could not participate in a criminal trial.
Wood said if the plaintiffs file a lawsuit in Orange County, Calif., where Bryant lives, they would most likely drop the civil suit filed in Denver federal court. The state law capping damages would still apply to a case heard in federal court.
A civil lawsuit can be filed either in the jurisdiction where the alleged harm occurred or where the defendant lives.
The woman's lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, and Wood said only that he thinks a fair amount would be "well in excess of the Colorado cap."
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