DENVER (AP) Let the paper war begin: The judge in the Kobe Bryant rape case has given attorneys a month to lay out their positions on such things as whether the jury should be allowed to hear about the accuser's sex life and mental health.

Such fights over evidence and testimony could prove crucial later at the NBA star's trial.

``Team Kobe's biggest worry now is a hung jury,'' said Denver attorney Craig Silverman, a former prosecutor. ``After the preliminary hearing, it doesn't look like 12 people would convict him. At the same time, it's very hard to convince all 12 people to vote not guilty. If he wins these motions hearings, it could reduce the likelihood of a hung jury.''

During Bryant's initial appearance in state court Thursday, the judge gave attorneys 30 days to file formal requests.

Stan Goldman, a professor at Loyola Law School-Los Angeles, said the defense will want to argue that Bryant's 19-year-old accuser was mentally and emotionally unstable, that she was promiscuous and that she expected Bryant to make sexual advances. Prosecutors have indicated they will try to keep such evidence away from the jury.

``In my opinion, that is the far more relevant and potentially compelling evidence _ if true _ about why in this he-said, she-said context we should believe he instead of she,'' Goldman said.

Bryant is accused of raping the woman at the hotel where she worked and he was a guest June 30. Free on $25,000 bail, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted.

No trial date has been set, but the case is not expected to begin before mid-2004, after the NBA season is over.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle has set hearings for Dec. 19 and Jan. 23 to take up disputes over evidence and other matters.

Among those disputes are defense requests to see the woman's medical records from several hospitals and clinics and a rape-crisis center.

Legal experts predicted the defense will try to keep Bryant's tape-recorded statement to police and his T-shirt, stained with the woman's blood, out of evidence. They also expect the defense to seek permission to discuss the woman's reported suicide attempts and her sexual history.

Colorado's rape-shield law prohibits the use of evidence about the sexual history of an alleged sexual assault victim unless the evidence is proven to be relevant to the case.

Defense attorney Pamela Mackey suggested during Bryant's preliminary hearing last month that injuries the woman suffered were caused during sex with someone other than Bryant.

Whether the jury hears that theory is another question.

``There's going to be one heck of a rape-shield hearing, but we won't be able to see it or even read it,'' Silverman said.

Under the law, hearings on whether to admit evidence about a woman's sexual history are closed to the public.