The Pitino Jury Follows the Law and Ignores the Scandal
As we wrote earlier this week, the defense in the Rick Pitino extortion
trial tried to make the case about Pitino's adultery and not about the extortion that the defendant Karen Sypher committed. The plan was to make the case about Pitino being a scoundrel and not about the crime.
Now, there really wasn't any doubt that Sypher was trying to extort Pitino out of millions of dollars to buy her silence about their affair. But Pitino's conduct, no matter how unsavory, is absolutely not relevant to Sypher's guilt. The only question for jury is whether Sypher was guilty or not. The jury correctly found that she was guilty.
The jury should be credited for ignoring the false issues and noise and just apply the facts to the law the judge gave them. No matter the verdict, a jury that follows the law ensures that judicial system is working.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.