John Clay's Sidelines

Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino finished up his testimony in the Karen Sypher trial at 11:52. He was cross-examined by Sypher’s attorney Jim Earhart from 9:48 a.m. to 11:31 a.m., with one 20-minute break. U.S. assistant district attorney Marisa Ford conducted re-direct for about 20 minutes before finishing. Earhart then said he had no further questions.

Some highlights:

• Pitino became emotional when he testified that the most difficult thing he had to do was tell his wife and family about his sexual encounter with Sypher. He then became more emotional when telling the jury that beyond that was the fact that his two most enjoyable years in coaching were the two in which his son, Richard, had been on his staff, and now had to “suggest to him that in order to avoid the embarrassment and humiliation he had to move on to another job was very difficult.” Richard Pitino did leave Louisville to become an assistant at Florida.

• Earhart concentrated first on Pitino’s preparation for his testimony — the coach said he did not have a plan going into testimony — and that he had a loyal staff and had done motivational speaking for considerable sums of money. “I was until Ms. Sypher made these allegations,” Pitino said.

• It took about 10 minutes into Earhart’s questioning for things to get contentious. Pitino objected to Earhart continuing to mention rape, when Pitino denied that a rape occurred. “I understand,” said Earhart. “I don’t think you understand that, because you keep repeating it,” Pitino said.

• Earhart also threw out the assertion that Pitino’s attorney, Bill Rambicure, and his financial advisor, Rick Avare, met with Sypher’s attorney, Glen Coulter Dana Kolter, on March 31, 2009 and offered a $500,000 settelment. Pitino said he had no knowledge of that. He said that the two went to Coulter Kolter on a fact-finding mission.

• In re-direct, Ford pointed out that Pitino and Rambicure had already gone to the Kentucky attorney general’s office before that meeting with Sypher’s attorney occurred.

• Earhart also honed in on the fact that after the first two threatening voice mail messages Pitino received, in a recorded meeting with Sypher, he never challenged the assertion made by the caller that the coach raped Sypher. “I didn’t have to challenge something that’s not true,” Pitino said.

• Earhart also concentrated on Pitino offering Sypher to make her life easier, and that at one point in the recorded meeting he told her they could “deny it happened.” Later, under re-direct from Ford, Pitino said that the reason he said they could deny was it because he was trying to contain the sexual encounter and keep his family from finding out.

• There was also some testimony about the sexual details of the encounter, though not much more than was revealed Wednesday. This morning’s details did deal a little more with the particulars of the actual intercourse.

• Earhart also attempted to make an issue that Jacob Wise had told Pitino he was 90 percent sure the person making the threatening voice mails was a man named Tom, but that Pitino did not to go to the authorities with that information.

• On re-direct, Ford pointed out that in the recorded Feb. 26 meeting with Sypher, Pitino said, “I’ve got to go to the police obviously.”