NBA star faces accuser in court

Kobe Bryant is free on bail of $25,000

The woman who accuses basketball star Kobe Bryant of rape has faced him in court for the first time since their encounter last year.

The 19-year-old alleged victim was testifying about her sexual past at a pre-trial hearing in Eagle, Colorado.

The closed hearing would decide if those details could be used at trial. The defence argues the information could destroy her credibility.

The 25-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star has denied sexual assault last June.

Mr Bryant has admitted what he described as consensual sex with the 19-year-old college student at a Colorado resort.

If convicted, Mr Bryant could face up to life in prison.

Sexual activity probed

Accompanied only by her attorney, the woman - whose name has not been disclosed - slipped into the courthouse through a fire exit and walked across a hallway crowded with media and photographers.

Mr Bryant arrived at court earlier.

The woman appeared unshaken during a short break about two hours after the hearing began.

Prosecutors had fought to limit the defence questioning about the woman's sexual past, but Colorado's highest court earlier this month declined to intervene in the case.

Colorado's rape shield law generally bans defence lawyers from raising information about an alleged victim's sex life.

But judges can hear testimony in private to decide if the information is relevant and admissible as evidence.

The defence says the woman's sexual conduct around the time of the allegation should be admitted because it could show that her injuries were caused by another sexual partner and that she had a "scheme" to have sex with Mr Bryant.

The woman's lawyer has denied the young woman had sex within hours after the incident with Mr Bryant.

"The defence wants to do a multitude of things. First, they want to win the rape shield hearing. They also would like to win the medical waver issue," said Craig Silverman, former chief deputy prosecutor in Denver.

The defence is also trying to have her medical and psychological records admitted as evidence.