CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: First, the Kobe Bryant courtroom drama. A hearing is scheduled to begin this hour in Eagle, Colorado. That could determine if the NBA superstar is tried for rape. We have more some details from CNN's Eric Phillips.</s>ERIC PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kobe Bryant arrived in a white suburban 90 minutes before his preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin. Back at the Lakers training camp in Hawaii last weekend, Bryant told reporters basketball plays a distant second in his life, behind his family, especially in light of this charge.</s>KOBE BRYANT, NBA PLAYER: My wife and my family and I, we've been dealing with this for a while now. We're going to continue to deal with it. We're going to continue to fight through it.</s>PHILLIPS: He was last at this courthouse in early August. He's charged with felony sexual assault against a 19-year-old woman who worked at this resort in Edwards, Colorado, where Bryant was a guest in late June. Bryant says the two had consensual sex. Legal experts say, during today's preliminary hearing, the judge will make at least one important decision.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge's role is, does the prosecution have any evidence that a crime may have occurred? If so, that's all I as a judge am allowed to look at.</s>PHILLIPS: The judge says he will not rule on a motion by the defense to give them the victim's medical records, saying, a district court judge should do that. Those records could speak to the victim's state of mind. While the legal maneuvering continues, Bryant is trying to remain positive.</s>BRYANT: Sometimes, it doesn't seem like there's light at the end of the tunnel, you know? Then you just pray, you have faith, and the next thing you know, the light is brighter than ever.</s>CROWLEY: That was CNN's Eric Phillips. We will go back to Colorado should there be further developments in the Bryant case.
Kobe Bryant Faces Preliminary Hearing