PITINO EXTORTION CASE Lawyer upbeat despite scolding
Sypher’s attorney argues her conviction should be overturned.
CINCINNATI —
Attorney David Nolan barely had two sentences of his argument out Thursday about why the conviction of the woman in prison for trying to extort University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino should be overturned when a three-judge appeals panel stopped him.
“Let’s get off on the right foot,” said Judge Boyce Martin of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The judges, though, made it clear from that point forward that Nolan did not continue on the right foot: They scolded, warned and corrected Nolan repeatedly as he argued that 52-year-old Karen Sypher’s trial attorney, James Earhart of Louisville, was constitutionally deficient in his representation at trial. Multiple times the panel told Nolan his assertions weren’t backed by evidence in the trial record and warned him that, by raising the issue of Earhart’s performance now, he would waive Sypher’s ability to bring the claim up in a later proceeding.
Late in the hearing, Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey became frustrated.
“This appears to be a waste of everybody’s time,” Daughtrey said.
In 2010, a jury convicted Sypher of extortion, lying to the FBI and retaliation against a witness. Prosecutors said she sought millions in cash, cars and a house from Pitino to stay quiet about a tryst in a Louisville restaurant.
Sypher later filed a police report accusing the coach of raping her, an allegation Louisville police, the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney and FBI each found not credible.
Sypher is serving a sevenyear sentence at a federal prison in Marianna, Fla.
Nolan appeared upbeat, telling reporters the judges seem to grasp the issues.
“They decided to hear oral arguments, which is positive,” Nolan said.
The panel did not indicate when a ruling would be forthcoming.
Nolan’s argument focused mainly on the performance of Earhart, who rested the defense at trial without calling any witnesses or presenting any evidence.