The defense in the Kobe Bryant sexual-assault case wants DNA samples from the accuser’s former boyfriend in hopes of matching it to semen found on the 19-year-old woman during a rape exam, says the Denver Post. “We’ve shown pretty dramatically in sealed filings that there is a direct relevance to the truth-seeking function of this case,” said Hal Haddon, an attorney for the Los Angeles Lakers guard.
Keith Tooley, attorney for ex-boyfriend Matt Herr, argued against the DNA test as a privacy invasion. “A sheriff is going to chase my client down and force him to submit to a test that he doesn’t want to take?” Tooley said. “Whether she said yes or whether she said no (to Bryant) has no bearing on that.” Added prosecutor Mark Hurlbert: “Without probable cause that he committed a crime, without even reasonable doubt, they want to compel the state to go to a private resident …and invade (his) privacy. This is such a fundamental violation of a person’s privacy. Frankly, it’s abhorrent.”
Link: http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~28682~2177054,00.html