Detective describes attack

Bryant hearing will continue next week

? The woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape told police a flirtatious encounter quickly turned ugly when he grabbed her by the neck, bent her over a chair and attacked her, repeatedly asking, “You’re not going to tell anybody about this, right?”

The 19-year-old woman was raped after agreeing to go to Bryant’s suite at the resort where she worked, Eagle County Sheriff’s Detective Doug Winters testified Thursday at a preliminary hearing to determine whether Bryant will stand trial.

Winters described in graphic detail for a packed courtroom how, according to the woman, an exciting, chance meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers player led to a nightmarish assault that left her shaken and in tears.

She said she told Bryant “no” at least twice and he ignored her, pulling her dress up and her underwear down and raping her from behind. At one point, the woman told police, Bryant forced her to face him and say “no” when he asked if she was going to tell anyone.

Bryant, 25, has insisted the sex was consensual. He sat at the defense table staring straight at Winters for much of the hearing, hands folded in front of him. Bryant occasionally clenched his jaw, but showed little other reaction.

Though the testimony was graphic, the most explosive statement came from Bryant’s own defense attorney when she suggested under cross examination that the woman’s injuries would also be “consistent with a person who has had sex with three different men in three days.”

That led an angry Judge Frederick Gannett to empty the courtroom and summon the lawyers to his chambers. Gannett also was upset earlier when defense attorney Pamela Mackey said the woman’s name six times when asking questions.

She apologized, saying she would write herself a big note not to say it. “Or I could get you a big muzzle,” Gannett said.

The hearing — expected to last only an afternoon — finally was adjourned after more than six hours, an indication the trial could be long and laborious for both sides. Gannett said it would continue Wednesday, and the district attorney’s office said Bryant had to appear.