The judge in the Kobe Bryant rape case denied on Tuesday a request from prosecutors to file motions about evidence in the high-profile case under seal to prevent tainting the jury pool.

Attorneys for Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant want to know who, if anyone, among authorities in Eagle County where the star athlete has been charged with rape, ordered T-shirts showing him being hanged. [Reuters]

Eagle County District Judge Terry Ruckriegle said he agreed the level of media coverage in the case against the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star was unprecedented and disclosure of certain information could hurt the right to a fair trial.

So the judge said prosecutors and defense attorneys could file limited motions containing previously undisclosed personal facts -- either about Bryant, 25, or his 19-year-old accuser -- that might not be admitted at the trial.

The judge said the lawyers could file separately and under seal explanations why certain material had to be kept from the public.

But the judge cautioned attorneys to make such filings "sparingly and wisely" to avoid litigation.

Prosecutors in November asked the judge to allow them to file motions about evidence under seal because they may contain sensitive material. Media attorneys contested the prosecution's motion.

Bryant, who is scheduled to be back in Eagle, Colorado, for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 19, has denied he raped the woman who worked at a resort near Vail, Colorado, where she said Bryant attacked her on June 30. No trial date has been set.

He said he was only guilty of adultery.

Separately, Bryant's lawyers want to know who, if anyone, among authorities in Eagle County ordered T-shirts showing him being hanged.

"The information is sought because it is relevant to show the bias of the investigating agencies," Bryant's lawyers said in a filing made public on Monday.

The filing said defense lawyers learned in late October that the Eagle County Sheriff's office had ordered 78 T-shirts for the sheriff's office and the district attorney's office.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Andree said an inquiry had been made about T-shirts that were being offered on a Web page because it was at first believed the money would go to a women's shelter group.

When the people who wanted to order the shirts found out that was not the case they dropped the idea of ordering them. "We never responded. There was no order to cancel," Andree said.

Nobody in District Attorney Mark Hurlbert's office ordered the T-shirts, spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said, although people in the prosecutor's office had heard about the shirts.

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