Kobe Bryant's attorneys have filed a flood of court motions in advance of a pretrial hearing Friday, arguing that the credibility of the woman is suspect -- and pertinent to the case.
The most significant of the 10 defense motions made public Monday asserts that two purported suicide attempts by the 19-year-old Eagle, Colo., woman should be admissible because they "establish the accuser's motive, scheme, plan and modus operandi of creating drama in her life to get attention."
Attorney Pamela Mackey also said the woman was prescribed an anti-psychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia and that she uses suicide attempts to gain the attention of an ex-boyfriend "without regard to the harm caused to others."
While Bryant's legal team was busy, so were prosecutors, who on Monday filed six motions of their own.
Bryant, 25, is charged with raping the woman June 30 at a mountain resort where she worked and he was a guest. He says they had consensual sex.
Bryant is expected to attend the hearing Friday, which begins at 9 a.m. and is not expected to end until after 5 p.m. The Lakers play host to the Denver Nuggets that night, and it is doubtful that Bryant could make it back to Los Angeles in time to play.
Laker spokesman John Black said Bryant had flu-like symptoms and did not attend Monday's practice in El Segundo. Most of the team is off today and Wednesday, with full-squad workouts resuming Thursday.
Several defense motions filed Monday were far-reaching broadsides that presiding Judge Terry Ruckriegle must rule on before trial:
* Mackey said that much of the evidence against Bryant was obtained illegally by detectives in the hours following the alleged rape at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards.
The defense seeks to bar an interview of Bryant secretly taped by investigators and a T-shirt and track pants he was wearing. Investigators say the woman's blood was found on the shirt.
"At no time did the detectives advise Mr. Bryant of his Miranda rights," Mackey wrote. "At no time did they advise him that he was being tape recorded. Nor did they advise him that they possessed a search warrant until after they interrogated him.... They cannot therefore justify the seizure of the clothes."
* In a 15-point motion as audacious as it was exhaustive, Mackey asked that Ruckriegle overturn the Colorado rape shield law that limits what defense lawyers can ask about an alleged rape victim's sexual history.
