Kobe’s attorneys argue that accuser’s sex life should be admissible

The defense hopes to circumvent Colorado’s "rape shield" law, which prohibits using an alleged rape victim’s sexual history to discredit one’s case.

The defense insists that the accuser had sex with someone else soon after her alleged assault by Bryant and that she had "multiple acts of sex" in the three days prior to her encounter with him.

The 25-year-old Bryant is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman on June 30 at a Colorado resort, a Class 3 felony with penalties ranging from four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.

Bryant, who was in Colorado for surgery on his right knee at the time of the alleged assault, claimed the two had consensual sex.

The filing by Bryant’s defense team on the first of a two-day closed-door hearing was revealed shortly after the judge in the case, Terry Ruckriegle, ordered prosecutors to turn over two pairs of underwear belonging to the accuser.

Defense attorneys Hal Haddon and Pamela Mackey hope that this evidence will help exonerate Bryant by proving that the woman had sex with other people around the same time as her encounter with the All-Star guard.

The prosecution urged the judge in the case not to allow any evidence regarding the woman’s sexual past, stating that it has no impact as to whether she was raped.

The accuser is expected to testify for the first time on Tuesday. Prosecutors have asked the judge to limit what questions Bryant’s attorneys may ask.