Kobe Bryant Church Dispute ... Case Referred to Prosecutors

San Diego police are referring the battery investigation involving Kobe Bryant to prosecutors ... TMZ has learned.

A parishioner at the St. Theresa of Carmel Church filed a police report last month against the L.A. Lakers star, claiming Kobe ripped a cell phone out of his hand in church, accusing the man of trying to take Kobe's picture.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the case will be referred to the San Diego City Attorney, but cops think at best it would be filed as a misdemeanor battery, which carries a maximum sentence of 6 months in jail.