Pitino testifies at Sypher trial
July 28th, 2010 | 
Author: By BRETT BARROUQUERE
and WILL GRAVES
Associated Press Writers
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino told a jury Wednesday that a woman accused of demanding millions from him initiated sex by whispering to him and unzipping his pants in an empty Italian restaurant.
Pitino testified Wednesday that he met Karen Cunagin Sypher on July 31, 2003, at the restaurant where he’d gone following a golf outing.
Pitino, who’s married, said he bought Sypher a drink and the two exchanged small talk after the restaurant closed.
When he got up to leave, Pitino said she whispered something, opened his pants and the two then had sex “very briefly.”
“Unfortunate things happen,” Pitino said.
Sypher is charged with extortion, asking for cash, cars and a house to stay quiet about the sexual liaison. She has pleaded not guilty, claiming Pitino sexually assaulted her. Police and prosecutors have said her assault claim lacked merit.
A packed federal courtroom watched Pitino’s testimony. Sypher, sitting a few feet away at the defense table, appeared unfazed.
Pitino entered the courtroom briskly wearing a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie. He stumbled a bit while taking the witness stand and gave short answers.
Pitino’s much-anticipated testimony marked the first time he’s talked publicly in detail about his encounter with Sypher. His testimony came after several witnesses said Sypher was flirty and persistent when she approached Pitino.
Restaurant owner Tim Coury testified Wednesday that the two were talking and having a drink at closing time. He told the pair and a Pitino aide to leave through a self-locking door and then went home.
Pitino’s driver, Vinnie Tatum, told jurors that Sypher appeared to have had a few drinks and was “flirty” when she joined Pitino’s group.
Tatum stayed with his boss when the restaurant emptied, but said he didn’t see or hear the two having sex as he sat about 15 feet away behind a brick half-wall. He had left them alone in the bar area because he felt uncomfortable and considered himself “a third party.”
Tatum waited at the restaurant until Pitino and Sypher left together in her car. Tatum stressed he had not been drinking and was awake the entire time.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from multiple witnesses who described Sypher’s efforts to meet Pitino.
Margaret Cameron, a former professional golfer, testified she was having dinner at Porcini when she ran into Pitino’s entourage and began a conversation. Sypher barged into the group, Cameron said, and thrust her cell phone at Pitino asking for the coach to talk to one of her sons.
“She wasn’t going to give up,” Cameron said. “She wasn’t going to stop.”
Bartender Melissa Brent testified that Pitino’s group were regulars at the restaurant and appeared to be having a good time in a corner of the restaurant when Sypher — wearing a white top with a short white skirt — attempted to “edge herself into the scene.”
Posted in UK Basketball
ROFLMAO
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE AND GO HOME AFTER GOLF! ! !
In the CJ that ‘other’ coach admitted it did not last no more than 15 seconds…duh, ricky boy, I don’t think you should be admitting that in court. 15 seconds, was it even worth it? Now that is funny and I wanted to fall off my chair at work when I read that one. I hope his golf game is better than that, otherwise, he is wasting a lot of money at Valhalla!
I wondered if anyone picked up on that statement,Linda it scares me sometimes that our thoughts are so much on the same level. He was under oath so I guess he had to tell the truth.
I suppose he was so shocked when she opened his pants ( as he put it) that he could not say this can go no farther, I’m married and going home now.
Jan, I wonder if we are twins from different mothers? I think everyone has the same opinion of her and just as glad as all get out that he does not reside in Lexington any longer! Did your daughter ever try to find me on FB?
Well Linda, they always told me I was an only child?????
I agree with you about him not being in Lexington any longer,he must have really been drinking a lot not to pick up on the red flags flying,and also to have forgotten he had a designated driver waiting for him,so he let her drive him home.Imagine having the guts to let another woman drive you home after you had an “unfortunate incident” with her.
Yes she did, but it would not let her message go through to you.I’m thinking about getting on face book myself though, I’ll let you know when I do.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Hey Nashville Cat, haven’t heard from you for awhile, you all doing ok?
Get on FB, Jan. I’m an only child too….we may be related! LOL
I have only one thing to say about the sleaze ball, he deserves her and she deserves him. I still say he is selling his real estate to settle his potential divorce or maybe there are more women are coming out of the woodwork. I will be so glad when this is all over, just one more thing to steal the thunder from Kentucky. Still say him greeting the soldiers was just a PR stunt.
I agree with you, sort of reminds me of some politicians. I really don’t think that this kind of story will steal thunder from Kentucky.
I do feel sorry for the families though,Mrs. P. should get all she can money wise and then some.(that probably still won’t help though,)I feel for the children, no matter what age these are their parents and they are going to have to hear these things from other people, and no matter what they have done they love them.
His are grown, she has them from several men and the youngest his just between 3-5 years old from his equipment manager. She keeps kissing her cross, I think she should have been kissing that thing the night she met him and a few of the other men.
There are so many jokes about his “timing” that a can’t type them all. Most are so bad I would not poison this site with them. But if I said I have not laughed this hard and long(more than 15 seconds) sorry I could not resist one, in a long time I would be lying. I don’t know a man that would have said that under oathe or fear of death.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE AND REMEMBER THERE IS STILL A 35 SECOND SHOT CLOCK IN COLLEGE BB lmao(SORRY FOR ANY I MAY HAVE OFFENDED BUT THIS STUFF WRITES ITSELF)
Well, Slick Rick took to the stand, and we learn from his direct testimony, the easy part, that he really is Quick Rick.
As entertaining as yesterday’s testimony was, it should pale in comparison to what Rick Pitino will have to endure today as the defense gets its chance to cross examine him. One curious aspect of the cross examination will be how much the defense lawyer moves the testimony from the admitted incident in 2003 to Pitino’s overall behavior with other women. I am confident that Sypher’s primary goal is to destroy Pitino in the realm of public relations and image, and for her to accomplish this goal, her lawyer will need to expand the scope of his cross examination. However, the defense attorney’s primary duty is to defend against the government’s charges, which is a different task than necessarily sticking it to Pitino.
In my opinion, her lawyer must go after the elements of the crimes under indictment, and failure to do so could be regarded as malpractice, IF, there is evidence that can be obtained from this cross examination to undermine the government’s case against his client. If the lawyer can do both, so be it, but if he only focuses on Pitino’s general promiscuity, today could be explosive, but not helpful toward obtaining a Not Guilty verdict for his client.
I agree Professor. Today is going to be brutal for Rick. No telling what fireworks will come out of this
Q. Mr. Pitino, was the night in question the first time that you remained at this restaurant after regular closing time?
A. No.
Q. Mr. Pitino, how many other times did this occur?
or
A. Yes.
Q. Really? expressed with heavy incredulity!!!
At some point the big question will be, what other women, how many other women, etc. and if Pitino’s answer is none, he then is exposed to perjury exposure IF the Sypher team has found just one other woman who can then trot to the stand to impeach Pitino’s testimony.
Cross examination is going to be interesting to say the least.
I don’t think we have heard the last of the Quick Rick testimony either. What time did the place “close” and what time did the principals in this case eventually leave there. How long did the watchdog stand on the other side of the low brick wall, hearing nothing, while this tryst occurred? Certainly longer than 15 seconds.
doing good Jan, thanks for asking. I had a show in Louisville (i’m a comic) a few days ago and let my UKness show a little too much. I couldn’t help it. so I’ve been laying low and staying away from Italian restaurants just to be safe.
as funny and wonderful as anything anti-Louisville is, this whole thing sucks. A) its bad for the state 2) alot of innocent people, kids, wives etc are hurt and C)it makes me sad that one of the most important pieces in UK’s history has ended up like this. instead of staying at UK and building a dynasty, he’s now sleeping with friends wives in bathrooms. dont get me wrong, it’s hysterical. but very sad at the same time and i wish it wasnt happening. well, i wish it was happening, just to Coach K.
NashvilleCat
You were in Louavull and I didn’t know it…duh, I wish I had known I could have come and helped ya out with those jokes and that UK stuff, man, what an opportunity you missed! LOL Next time let us know, let Larry know, put it on a billboard or something. You are right, I have not laughed this much in 15 seconds in a long time myself and the 35 second shot clock, that has got to be the ultimate joke. I don’t think any woman will ever touch him again, no chance on any 3 pointers for him in any night. Bet his dribble drive is off too, no drive and hardly any dribble. I don’t think the monastary would let Coach K out long enough to get near a woman.
Where is Jim Boyer, I would love to see his comments!
I guess Rick Pitino must be a Motley Crew fan, e.g. “Ten Seconds To Love”
I think you are right, Professor, 2.5 seconds to zip down, 2.5 seconds to zip back up, Slick Rick is not Quick Rick! You can win a game in 15 seconds or less…2.5 seconds or less even!
Hey, you all I had to take time out to take my mom to the Dr. for a checkup, and I just knew you all would be on here having a great time, I just felt like I would be missing my 15 minutes, I mean seconds of fame!!
Nashville Cat, like Linda I hope you will let us know when you are going to be in our area again,would love to come and watch your show. Do you ever come over in Southern Indiana?Maybe you need to come to that new place in Louisville that is all Kentucky(sorry I cannot remember the name,Wildcat Country or Kentucky Country or something like that, I know it is on Baxter Ave.)Then you could show all the UKness you wanted to and everyone would love it.
Linda, I love all the comments also,like the 35 second clock, Quick Rick and especially loved your dribble drive comment.I think I noticed that he cut a couple of his 30 second timeouts short this year too.
If it were not for the innocent victims of his behavior it would be funnier. I have so much new material for those ul fans that I can’t remember it all. Linda you covered a lot of it but there is more. I am probably enjoying this too much if that’s possible. Makes one wonder what those “Good ole Boys” are really doing in their spare time.
I wondered why Terry (the turn coat) Mieners was distancing himself from rp now I have the answer. If that’s what goes on when he’s out with “the boys” wives everywhere would be scared.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE AND TRY NOT TO LAUGH TO HARD! ! !
Wow! I didn’t know I had groupies in Louisville! I’ll definitly let yall know when I’m there next. Nothing booked right now, but I’ll definitly holler.
I made a booboo on my last post. It was suppose to read Slick Rick is NOW Quick Rick…duh, blonde moment. Does this have anything to do with his low post game? Short man and all that? Nevermind…That DJ has a lot of room to talk from what I understand. He switches muffins like some women switch hair color. On an honest note, ya’ll know how much I despise that ‘other’ school, however, it seems to be they were treating that ‘other’ coach like he was on trial. That did not seem fair. Now, NashvilleCat…more jokes please.
Groupies huh! Really, I hope you will let us know,that would be so much fun, I wish you luck with being a comic, I do not think it would be an easy job,(but then what job is)because I can come up with some things that really crack my friends up just off the top of my head,but when you sit down and try to think of things to say that are funny it really is hard.In the mean time you can get on here and talk with us until your next booking.
Jan you made my day! so many people think that because they can make their friends laugh they could do comedy. so people with enough awarness to know there is a difference always makes me happy.
the thing about this trial is that its so absurd that the punchlines speak for themselves. can you imagine being a coach sitting in a recruits house talking to their parents.
“You know coach, your schools GPA isnt that good, you only graduated 1 kid and you may be on probation next year.”
“Yeah, but I dont have sex in bathrooms with my friends wife.”
“Fair enough.”
this whole thing is ridiculous. could yall imagine, for one second, if this was Cal instead of Rick? Pat Forde’s head would explode in glee.
Nashville Cat, glad I made your day,
I was thinking more about how he can look his family in the eye, especially now that all this information has come out in court.I know his kids love him,but my goodness how hard for them to take all of this in and not hate him for what he has done to their mother, bad enough that he did it in the first place, but for it to be in all the papers, tv and radio.
Like I said before, how is he going to have any credibility with his team, going to be hard to punish them for their actions when they know what he has done.I’m sure they all are saying they are standing behind him at this point,but if he has to get after one of them it could be another story. I personally think that UofL made a mistake by not giving him the chance to resign or let him go. We heard the Karen Sypher chant at games last year, can you imagine what will chanted this coming season?I don’t like to see or hear that kind of thing being done, but you cannot control that many people and you know it will happen. If you think that will not affect the team,you are wrong.
The thing is as soon as they can the media in Louisville will try to sweep this under the carpet, you are so right if this was our coach ( really don’t want to mention his name in any context with this story)they would never let it die, they would show it as a prelude to every UK game and the NCAA tournament. In fact the NCAA would probably find a way to investigate the story and punish UK for it.
Nashville Cat, Keep your sense of humor,the best stories are from everyday life!!!
Yes, NashvilleCat, even though you have that name, and evidently live in that city, of all cities, I mean I’m in Lexington West can you even call that Lexington South, you have 2 groupies! I always wanted to be a groupie. What does a groupie do? Plz, don’t tell me it’s the same thing that woman did, plz, I’m too old for that! I’ll run and get you water, take your picture, make phone calls for you, throw tomatoes at the hecklers, and give you a joke or two. Speaking of jokes, got one about old Quick Rick crying today? How about her husband falling head over…in love with her, oh, never mind…save that for the show. It seems the old man may be on the way out, maybe the money people at the school will be tired of this little soap opera and ask him to retire to a monastary. He’ll choose a nunnery, but they won’t have him.
NashvilleCat-Jan
I hope you see this link before Larry deletes this post…it has some good humor in the comments section
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/rick-pitino-testimony-res_n_662534.html#comments
yall r killing me.
“I always wanted to be a groupie” that may be my new t-shirt i sale!
we in nashville like to call ourselves Lexington south. its funny when the UT and Vandy fans down here get too loud on the 104.5 Big Blue usually speaks up quick.
jan ur right, i went to yahoo and espn and this thing with Ricky was barely mentioned. unbelievable. i guess we are just going to have to live with the double standard, but it sucks nontheless.
did you check out the link?
Do I get a % off the t-shirts? I copywrited it! LOL
checked it out Linda, there are some funny comments on there. I do believe Mr. P has lost a lot of respect!!
He lost what little he had left as far as being a man, he is still a good coach if this does not get in the way. I just wonder how it will affect his recruiting.
Linda,
What do you think this will do to his ability to recruit? I have my opinion too. However, read what Parrish has to say about it:
4. Is this affecting recruiting?
I think we’ll all agree, when we look back in 10 years, that Kentucky’s John Calipari did more to hurt Rick Pitino’s recruiting than Karen Sypher ever dreamed. Sypher is the worst thing to happen to Pitino’s personal life, but Calipari is the worst thing to happen to Pitino’s career because having to work 80 miles from Coach One-and-Done is damn-near impossible. Calipari is at the bigger program, he has all the momentum, and elite prospects with a desire to get to the NBA quickly — i.e., the overwhelming majority of elite prospects — genuinely do want to play for him.
Calipari can secure commitments from top prospects early.
Or he can lure somebody else’s recruits late.
Doesn’t matter.
For proof consider that Calipari will enter his second season at UK with his second straight top-ranked recruiting class, and Pitino simply won’t be able to keep up because it doesn’t seem like anybody other than maybe Duke, North Carolina and Kansas will be able to keep up. Calipari isn’t a big problem to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo or UCLA’s Ben Howland because they operate in different worlds. Pitino, on the other hand, not only operates in the same world as Calipari, he operates in the same state, point being that the bar for Pitino at Louisville will be set wherever Calipari sets it at Kentucky.
And that’s a tough gig.
I’d be more optimistic if Pitino were coaching at Arizona.
Or St. John’s.
Almost anywhere other than 80 miles from Calipari.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13682913/five-for-friday-the-good-the-bad-and-the-funny-of-pitino-case?tag=pageRow;pageContainer
i hate to agree with Parrish, but i think i do. in all fairness, it’s the UK+Cal that = Ricks trouble. he’s still a good coach. UL is still a “cringe” good program. But we are the hot prom queen right now and he’s the kinda good looking band memeber. sure, she will do in a pinch, but everyone wants the hot cheerleader. I almost feel bad for the other coaches. I mean, KU, Duke, Cuse, UNC will always get there guys, but it may get to the point where kids would rather come off the bench at UK than start at Bama, Colorado, Marquette etc…
WOW, that is a mouthful coming from Parrish (Gary Parrish ?)but the truth is the truth, I do think this thing with Sypher will hurt his recruiting some, don’t forget all these guys have mothers that may not want their boys around that kind of influence or the program that backs it.
Professor, I think Cal does now have something to do with his lack of recruiting ability, but, and this is a big one for me, his reputation now has damaged it also. When Bobby Knight was still at IU I said if one of my sons had the ability to play basketball and was recruited by IU he would not go to IU because of Bobby Knight. I think slick quick little rick’s reputation is going to hurt him as much now as being in Big Brother’s back yard. If I had a son being considered for a scholarship, no matter his talent, I would look at the role model coaching that team, the support system of the coaches and staff, the type of players they had recruited in the past and if any of those players had any problems that put them in jeopardy for any reason. Granted, Cal had a coach arrested for DUI, but he did not have a coach who is making national headlines for a 15 second scandal with a floozie. The jokes that are all over the internet are hilarious but also they are putting a throwing a bad light on the ‘other’ university. They are becoming a laughing stock for they way they have stood by him. The bonus and the moral clause that they did not uphold. You can’t take away from Pete Rose what he did for baseball, just as you can’t take away from college basketball what little slick quick rick has done. But where has that gotten Pete? Where will it get little slick quick rick? I think little slick quick rick is going to have a hard time crawling out of this hole and I don’t think he is ever going to be able to walk onto a basketball court again without someone making some sort of comment. Can you imagine what is going to happen if he calls time out with 15 seconds left on the clock? Holy moly! I can’t see him resigning any time soon, he would only be admitting defeat. I think he might be ‘asked’ to resign gracefully, but I think his reputation has about ended his career in basketball. At least, if he had been the coach at the most storied tradtion in basketball, UK, when this had happend, he would have been ruined for life. The Forde’s, Tipton’s, The NYT and the rest would not let up on this for years to come. Except now they are keeping their mouths shut because he is not at UK. I wonder who is paying them off. It makes my blood boil. As far as the diviorce that people are talking about I’m not sure if that will happen or not. Joann is a very devout Catholic. There are still some Catholics that do not believe in divorce. A lot of people have said she has not been at many games in the past few years, I don’t know, I don’t watch ‘those’ games. As I said before, I’m glad he got caught at that other school and not in Lexington. Sutton and Billy Clyde did enough there, we didn’t need this little eipsode too. And after all that, yes, Cal and his reputation has damaged his ability to recruit. Now, will someone please play My Old Kentucky Home and the Fight Song again for me please! C-A-T-S! CATS! CATS! CATS! GO CATS!
Linda, I agree with you that his personal problems are going to impact his ability to sit in a family living room with mom and kid, and convince the mom that he is the role model she wants for her son. As I have pointed out before, if Sypher happens to get a not guilty verdict in this trial, then Pitino’s problems from this affair are not close to finished because she will make the tv and radio talk show circuit, and she will sell her story for a book, the tabloids will eat this stuff up, and who knows, a movie?
However, the day that UK hired Calipari, Pitino knew that any scheme he had to elevate Louisville basketball to a level comparable to UK ended. Regardless of Pitino’s ability to recruit going forward, Calipari’s ability to recruit will be superior.
Yep, as I said, Cal has hurt his recruiting also. Old little slick quick rick is a has been as far as I am concerned. He may not be the one on trial, but his name has been dragged through the mud. If they make a movie, I think Snookie should dye her hair blonde and play Sypher. I have neve seen the show she is on, but have seen pictures of her and think she would be perfect. As for little slick quick rick, Tom Cruise, he could jump on a couch and impersonate him perfectly I’m sure. I can’t stand him either. Little slick quick rick has tried to emulate the success he had at Kentucky while he has been at that other ‘school’ and it just has not happened. I keep wondering how long the alumni and school are going to continue paying his salary when he has not produced a championship. Have you noticed how often they switch conferences until they find one they can dominate? They are like a kid from the 80’s who has to have a trophy just because he joined the team and sat on the bench. He has not been able to recruit the caliber of players that he had at Kentucky. The type of player attracted to that ‘other’ school is worlds apart from Kentucky players. They might have called DeMarcus a thug this past year, but how many players at that ‘other’ school have been as loved as DeMarcus was this year? GO CATS!
Linda I loved your comment about him calling a time out with 15 seconds left, you know we will all be watching for it, lol there will not be an announcer that will be able to report that in the game with our cracking up.
I don’t watch that ‘other’ teams games, I hope the news tells when it happens. You on face book yet? I work in So. Indiana until next Friday, I noted you live there.
I don’t watch them either, I thought about that after I hit submit,the news will not have it on,it might be on biggest sports bloopers.
No I’m not on yet, what can I say I’m just slow.
I live about 30 miles north of Louisville.
so next Friday is your last day, I asked you that in another comment section today.(I’m not sure which one,I commented on so many of them this week)
I have been having a ball on this site with the ‘other’ coaches fiasco!
Yeh, me too, I could have more fun with it if I did’t feel so bad about the kids involved, the adults,well they brought it on themselves.
The little girl is too young. I hope the boys have been shipped out of town and away from TV and computers.