In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Denver, the Colorado woman under the name of "Jane Doe" claimed Los Angeles Lakers star Bryant raped her when she was bent over a chair in his hotel room in a Vail-area resort last year -- a claim that matches the criminal charge.

Bryant, 25, who is scheduled to go on trial in criminal court in Eagle, Colorado, later this month, has pleaded not guilty and said the two had consensual sex on June 30, 2003.

In criminal cases a conviction can lead to a prison term, while civil cases, which have a lower burden of proof, result in money being awarded.

Krista Flannigan, spokeswoman for Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said the civil case would not affect the criminal trial scheduled to start on Aug. 27. "This does not impact the criminal case at all -- nothing has changed," Flannigan said.

But legal observers said the civil case raised serious doubt over whether prosecutors will go forward.

"It could well mean that she (the accuser) is going to urge the prosecutor to dismiss the criminal charges," Denver attorney Daniel Recht, a former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said.

Bryant would not be willing to negotiate on the civil suit until the criminal charges are dropped, Recht said.

The case took a serious turn against the prosecution when the judge in the criminal case ruled last month that the woman's sexual history just before and hours after she said Bryant raped her could be presented at the trial. The defense's theory is that she had consensual sex just hours after she said Bryant raped her, which could explain injuries the prosecution said she sustained. The woman has denied the defense claim.

The testimony about her sexual activity would have been damaging to the prosecution's case and humiliating for the young woman -- so humiliating that her lawyers may have decided that the best strategy is to avoid a criminal trial and go straight to a civil proceeding.

Bryant's criminal attorney Pamela Mackey was not available to comment.

The judge in the criminal case last week expanded a gag order on everyone involved in the case after the accuser's lawyers, John Clune and Lin Wood, said on national television that mistakes by court staff that identified the woman meant she may need to reconsider testifying at the criminal trial. The gag order lead to the woman's attorneys to file a scathing criticism of state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle, demanding that he vacate his gag order. Legal observers said the filing was an unusual step and certainly not one taken by lawyers who expected the criminal trial to go forward.

In the civil lawsuit, the woman who is now 20, claims that when "she was bent over the chair and forced by defendant Bryant to remain in that position, defendant Bryant sexually assaulted and raped plaintiff, by unlawfully and knowingly inflicting sexual intrusion and penetration of her vagina against her will and without her consent."

Usually, crime victims wait until the end of a criminal trial before suing in civil court, unless the statute of limitations is running out. "That's not the case here," attorney and former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman said.

The civil lawsuit could be used by the defense to buttress an argument that she was only interested in getting money from the multimillionaire basketball player.

"If there is a trial this would provide team Kobe with additional ammunition with which to cross-examine the accuser," Silverman said.