Another Technical Foul In Kobe Case

JULY 28--In another mind-boggling screwup, Colorado court officials this afternoon again inadvertently disclosed the name of the alleged victim in the Kobe Bryant rape case. The surname of the 20-year-old woman was included in a two-page court order that was posted this afternoon on the official court web site. The document itself, signed yesterday by Judge Terry Ruckriegle, apparently was not supposed to even be uploaded--it carries a "filed under seal" notation. The court order, a copy of which you'll find below, deals with the potential use of DNA evidence obtained via a hospital examination of Bryant following the alleged June 30, 2003 assault (TSG has covered the woman's name with a red box). This is the third time that the woman's name has been mistakenly disclosed by court officials, who scrambled this afternoon to remove the sealed Ruckriegle order from its web site. Last September, the woman's name and address were left unredacted in a motion filed by the Vail Police Department. And last month, a court reporter accidentally e-mailed several reporters transcripts of a closed-door hearing regarding the woman's sex life. Citing the earlier disclosures of his client's name, attorney John Clune petitioned Ruckriegle earlier this month to halt the posting of court documents online. The judge has yet to rule on that motion. (2 pages)