DENVER - Authorities looking to arrest Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on a sexual assault charge also wanted to charge him with false imprisonment, according to a copy of the arrest warrant unsealed Wednesday.
The handful of documents released provide a glimpse into how authorities put together their case. Bryant was charged with felony sexual assault alleging he raped an employee at a Colorado resort where he was a guest June30.
But the July3 arrest warrant said there was "probable cause" Bryant was guilty of false imprisonment, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. The charge under Colorado law refers to confining someone without the person's consent. Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert decided to charge Bryant with only the sexual assault count.
Separately, a state judge rejected the Vail Daily's request to release recordings of 911 calls made from the home of Bryant's accuser, saying they are "intensely personal" and could subject the woman to "harassment and abuse."
CARLISLE HIRED: Rick Carlisle ended a week of speculation by signing a four-year contract with the Pacers, the same team that bypassed him in favor of Isiah Thomas three years ago. Carlisle was the only person new president Larry Bird considered. Terms were not disclosed.
Carlisle's first task will be patching up a relationship with All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal, who said he would not have re-signed if he knew Thomas would not return. Bird said he wanted to meet with O'Neal when he returned to Indianapolis.
HORNETS: Guard Darrell Armstrong, who spent nine seasons with the Magic, will go on trial Oct.22. He is accused of slapping away the hand of a female officer as she ordered him off a street outside a nightclub in Orlando. Armstrong is charged with battery on a police officer, which carries a maximum of five years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest without violence.
