Bryant accuser's mother asks for speedy trial

EAGLE, Colo. - The 19-year-old woman accusing Kobe Bryant of rape asked the judge Thursday to set a trial date so she can stop trying to outrun the media and perhaps put an end to the death threats she has received over the past nine months.

"Her life is on hold and her safety is in jeopardy until this case is over," the woman's mother wrote in a letter accompanying a court filing seeking "swift resolution" of the pretrial proceedings.

Attorney John Clune said in the filing that his client has been "forced to quit school, she cannot live at home, she cannot talk to her friends and she has received literally hundreds of phone calls and e-mails threatening either death or mutilation."

"None of these consequences will end until after this case goes to trial," Clune said. Pretrial hearings are scheduled well into May.

Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said she could not comment and Clune declined further comment when reached by telephone.

Bryant has acknowledged having sex with the woman last June at the Vail-area resort where she worked, but said it was consensual. If convicted of felony sexual assault, the 25-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star would face four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.

Thursday's request came as Bryant and attorneys held closed-door arguments over what evidence will be admitted at trial.

The defense wants details of the woman's sex life admitted to back up their claim that she might have been injured during sex with someone else the week of her encounter with Bryant. A former boyfriend, Matt Herr, testified for about an hour.

The woman testified for more than three hours Wednesday, the first time she has faced Bryant since the alleged attack.

Three men have been arrested for allegedly making death threats against the woman. Her name and pictures of her have also been plastered across the Internet and supermarket tabloids. The woman's mother told the judge in the letter Thursday that her daughter has lived in four states in the past six months and that she and her husband are constantly worried about her safety.

"My daughter has plans for her future. She wants to continue her education," she wrote. "I am asking that the court do whatever possible to bring this case to trial as soon as possible."

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