DENVER, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A lawyer for Los Angeles Lakers' guard Kobe Bryant is asking a Colorado judge to declare the state's rape-shield law unconstitutional.
Attorney Hal Haddon argued in a motion filed Tuesday the defendant in a rape case deserves more protection in trials than the accuser because he is presumed innocent, the Denver Post reported.
Haddon said the history of both the defendant and the victim are critical in sexual-assault cases, but the alleged victim's history is protected too closely under the Colorado law.
Judge Terry Ruckriegle is expected to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the law in March. If he should overturn the state law, prosecutors would appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court and the trial would be delayed for at least a year, the Post stated.
Bryant, an all-star with the Lakers, would face from four years to life in prison if convicted of sexual assault. He admitted having sex with a 19-year-old hotel employee at a Colorado resort last June, but he said the encounter was consensual.
