Karen Sypher heard a jury foreman say she was guilty of six felony counts, including extortion, lying to federal prosecutors and retaliation against a witness.

Sypher’s trial ended on Wednesday afternoon and the jury deliberated a bit less than six hours before agreeing on a verdict.

Sypher’s ex-lover says she told him: I shouldn’t have done it

Her attorney, Jim Earhart had chosen not to put his client on the stand in her own defense. In fact he presented no witnesses at all, relying on the jury to find reasonable doubt that the prosecution had proved the case against his client.

Sypher’s attorney rolls the dice, won’t put her on the stand

Unfortunately for Earhart and Sypher, the jury was able to come to a unanimous decision very quickly. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported on a statement of a jury member.

Charles Smith, a mortgage banker told media that a key to their decision were the phone calls made to University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino by an ex-lover of the defendant’s. The calls demanded money in exchange for silence about a six year-old tryst between Sypher and Pitino.

It all began in 2003 when Pitino and Sypher had the briefest of sexual encounters at an Italian restaurant that had already closed for the night.

Within weeks she told Pitino she was pregnant and without health insurance or a clue as to what to do about it. Pitino gave her $3,000 and with that she obtained an abortion.

Ex-husband says claims of rape are “craziness”

When Pitino received the calls demanding money a new element was introduced into the situation. Pitino was told that Karen Sypher was now claiming that the coach raped her. Pitino worked with the FBI who arrested Sypher in April 2009.

Rick Pitino humiliated while telling of sex with Karen Sypher

At that time, Rick Pitino’s personal life got exposed on an international stage. He had to admit his indiscretion and involvement with Karen Sypher’s pregnancy.

The jury verdict came after seven days of testimony from the prosecution including multiple individuals who directly contradicted much of Sypher’s case.

Sypher had multiple sexual partners, including her former lawyer, testify to facts that directly contradicted what Sypher had told the FBI and even the local police.

Sypher was granted her request to remain free on her own recognizance until she is sentenced. Federal sentencing guidelines are expected to reduce her sentence from the up to 26 years provided under the law.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The second week of the trial of Karen Sypher, accused of extorting money and other things of value from Rick Pitino kicked off with some “kiss and tell” testimony.

An ex-husband and two ex-lovers, one of whom was Sypher’s attorney prior to her indictment in April 2009, gave testimony that could seriously derail her defense, according to Louisville’s courier-journal.com and the Lexington Herald Leader.

Sypher and Pitino had one night of sex in 2003, out of which came Sypher’s allegations of rape and subsequent alleged attempts at extortion for her silence about the University of Louisville men’s basketball coach.

Rick Pitino on the stand: sex with Sypher was brief and unfortunate

The saddest testimony came from her former lawyer, Dana R. Kolter who took his client’s word about the rape allegations and sought to work out a settlement with Pitino in order to avoid filing a civil lawsuit against him.

Kolter who crossed ethical boundaries by having sex with a client while representing her, said the suit he threatened to bring might not have been allowed by a court.

“I don’t know if I would have won that argument,” said Kolter on the stand Monday. He also testified that he tried to get her psychological counseling, because he thought, “…her eggs were scrambled.”

Tim Sypher calls ex-wife’s rape allegations, “craziness”

Another lover took the stand on Monday and told the jury that within days of her being charged with extortion, he met with Karen Sypher to ask about the situation.

Tyree Fields, a former basketball talent scout met Sypher in 2008 at which time they began an affair. She was still marreid to her latest ex-husband, Tim Sypher in 2008.

By the spring of 2009 they were merely friends and Fields’ testimony on Monday indicated Sypher knew what she had done. “Her response to me was that it was stupid, I shouldn’t have done it,” said Fields on the stand.

Rick Wise, a two-time ex-husband of Sypher’s (they divorced in 1984, remarried in 1986 and divorced again in 2002) testified on Monday. According to Wise, he declined to meet with her to discuss her money demands from Pitino prior to her arrest.

He told the court that once Karen was arrested, he suggested she take a plea deal to which she told him, ““If I am going down, I am going to take Pitino with me.’”

Testimony resumes on Tuesday.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Rick Pitino took the stand on Wednesday in the federal trial of Karen Sypher, a woman, prosecutors claim tried to extort millions of dollars from the University of Louisville men’s basketball coach.

What else would this be about if it weren’t about mere money? Sex of course and from what Pitino said during the trial’s morning session on Wednesday, it wasn’t a lengthy affair.

How do you make something sleazy – sex in public on the table of a closed restaurant- even more so? You say it was brief, “unfortunate” and only happened because the woman whispered in your ear and tugged on your pants zipper.

Oh yes, and that a male companion was sitting on the other side of the place while it all happened.

From the Louisville Courier Journal, by way of USA Today: “Unfortunate things happen,” Pitino said after he told the prosecutor, under direct questioning about the details of the event.

Will Pitino lose recruits as a result of it all?

Ms. Sypher was unmarried at the time and is currently estranged from her husband, one Tim Sypher who was then and until very recently still was on Pitino’s staff at Louisville.

Pitino’s testimony is the first time he has uttered a word on the subject since Sypher was charged in the spring of 2009.

Sypher says she was raped by Pitino, making the testimony of the man in the restaurant during the encounter, somewhat important.

That man is Vinnie Tatum, Pitino’s driver (nice life he leads down there in Louisville) who says all he heard were “…the sounds of two people that seemed to be enjoying themselves during a sexual encounter,” He told that to FBI investigators in 2009.

Sypher is accused of attempting to extort money in exchange for never uttering a word about that night and what occurred thereafter.

Sypher, Pitino said, called to say she was pregnant, had no money for health care and didn’t know what to do.

On the stand Wednesday, Pitino said, “I didn’t believe at the time it was my child,” Nonetheless he gave her $3,000 for health insurance, according to him, an abortion, according to her.

Sypher claims no extortion took place. Rather it was nothing but her discussions about settling a case she intended to bring against Pitino for sexual assault, among other things.

The intent of the accused when discussing money in exchange for dropping a law suit is important to proving extortion. There also must be facts that give rise to a plausible belief a law suit was about to be filed at all.

That is the kind of testimony that will come when Sypher gets on the stand as well as her representatives who engaged in the supposed negotiations with Pitino and his attorney.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC