Toobin has expressed admiration for these determined advocates for Bryant.

DOBBS: Gravity in that he could face as much as life in prison under Colorado law if — depending upon the charges that are ultimately brought and the penalties that could follow. There was a surprise, at least to me, in that courtroom, Jeffrey, and that was the appointment of a special investigator. What do you make of that?

TOOBIN: Well, I mean, I think this was a small example of why it pays to have extremely aggressive, competent defense attorneys. Because what they did was they took some arguably improper statements attributed to prosecutors and to the sheriff, and they said we want an investigation. We want to go forward.

Now, this is the kind of thing that goes on all the time in high-profile cases, these sorts of comments. But you know, oftentimes it's just sort of shrugged off. Here they have asked for an investigator. Now they've got one. They've got a sheriff who's going to interview everybody and talk — and find out whether there's more to investigate.

This sheriff, who's from a neighboring county, will investigate and report back to the judge. Maybe there will be a hearing about these possible violations. Maybe there won't. But the wheels are churning now. Stuff is being churned up. And that's where defense attorneys flourish, in improvising, in finding out stuff that prosecutors didn't want to disclose necessarily. And the wheels are turning now. Perhaps it will add up to nothing. But it's a start.

I feel sorry for the accuser. She is about to get hit by the legal equivalent of a Mack truck. I doubt she has the emotional strength to withstand the impact.

This entry was originally published to the weekly legal column at Silver Rights.