DNA in Kobe Bryant Case Contaminated?

It is usually the defense which tries to argue that DNA evidence in criminal cases has been contaminated at the lab, but the Colorado prosecutors in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case have requested a hearing to question the reliability of DNA evidence introduced by the defense team's experts.

A closed hearing on the matter is scheduled today, just two days before jury selection is scheduled to begin in the high-profile case. No details about how the evidence was supposedly contaminated were in the court filings, but prosecutors are expected to attack defense expert Elizabeth Johnson, who testified in an earlier hearing that DNA evidence suggest that Bryant's accuser had sex with another man after her encounter with Bryant.

However, prosecutor Dana Easter told reporters contamination was found in DNA control samples intended to ensure accurate testing. Prosecutors also said some of the data from Johnson's lab, appears to have been "whited out or otherwise manipulated."

Observers wondered why the prosecution waited until two days before jury selection to raise the question of the DNA evidence. "It may be a legitimate issue, but it's something that should have been raised a long time ago," one observer said.

See AP report Bryant Prosecutors Say Some Data Tainted

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