Lawyers for basketball star Kobe Bryant asked a judge on Tuesday to reduce a rape charge against their client because prosecutors will not allow a defense expert to observe key DNA re-testing.
The defense and prosecutors have been bickering over the issue of DNA re-testing on four swabs taken from the 19-year-old Colorado woman who has accused the Los Angeles Laker of raping her last summer.
Bryant has pleaded not guilty and said the two had consensual sex at a Vail-area resort where she worked.
The DNA testing is important for the defense because it contends that the woman had consensual sex with another man hours after she said Bryant raped her and before she reported the crime.
The defense wants the charge reduced from a class three felony to class four, which, if granted would lower the minimum prison term to two years from four years and does not include the element of violence.
Details here from Reuters via FindLaw.com.