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EAGLE, Colo. (AP) Two detectives who spoke with Kobe Bryant shortly after he was accused of rape testified behind closed doors Wednesday on the final day of a three-day hearing.
The defense says the detectives, Eagle County sheriff's investigators Dan Loya and Doug Winters, improperly questioned the NBA star and botched the execution of a court order to gather evidence last July.
They want District Judge Terry Ruckriegle to toss out Bryant's secretly recorded statements, a T-shirt stained with the woman's blood and physical evidence taken from Bryant at a Glenwood Springs hospital.
Bryant, 25, is accused of raping a 19-year-old employee at a Vail-area resort last June. The Los Angeles Lakers star has said the two had consensual sex. If convicted of felony sexual assault, Bryant would face four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.
Also Wednesday, the judge planned to open the courtroom for arguments on other topics, including the prosecution's request to have Bryant enter a plea so a trial date can be set.
Bryant will have to wait at least until mid-May for the judge to decide whether a jury should hear evidence about his accuser's sexual past.
A nurse and three young men answered questions about that issue Tuesday behind closed doors. However, the next batch of witnesses won't be called until a fresh hearing starts May 10, said state court spokeswoman Karen Salaz.
Prosecutors have said Bryant spoke voluntarily to the detectives, knew he was free to leave the interview and that he willingly handed over evidence.
The defense has argued that Bryant was essentially in custody.
Defense attorney Hal Haddon has also said Colorado court rules call for hair, fibers and other "nontestimonial evidence" to be obtained during daylight hours, while Bryant's hospital exam was performed before dawn.
Winters has said he didn't know about the daylight rule. He also admitted a judge had to remind him he needed two separate court orders to gather evidence: one for hair and similar evidence, and another for Bryant's clothing, including the bloodstained T-shirt.
Loya recorded Bryant's statements with a miniature recorder that was in his shirt pocket. Among others called to testify Wednesday was Rich Sanders, an audio forensics expert and music technology professor at the University of Colorado at Denver.
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