WEBVTT - The Tipping Point Revisited: Georgetown Massacre Part 1 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:26.756 Pushkin. On March twelfth, twenty nineteen, the US Attorney's Office 0:00:26.756 --> 0:00:31.356 for the District of Massachusetts unsealed indictments against more than 0:00:31.436 --> 0:00:35.236 fifty people, indictments that were part of a criminal investigation 0:00:35.596 --> 0:00:42.476 code named Varsity Blues. Business leaders, celebrities, actors, rich people 0:00:42.516 --> 0:00:45.156 accused of paying millions of dollars to get their children 0:00:45.356 --> 0:00:50.916 into elite universities millions of dollars in bribes. One by one, 0:00:51.356 --> 0:00:55.516 the parents were arrested, pled guilty, paid massive fines, served time, 0:00:55.876 --> 0:01:01.716 reputations were ruined. The media ran story after story. Fifty 0:01:01.876 --> 0:01:05.396 people facing charges, and more arrests are likely in the 0:01:05.396 --> 0:01:06.356 weeks and months ahead. 0:01:06.716 --> 0:01:10.316 Actresses Lori Laughlin and Felicity Hoffmann are two of the 0:01:10.356 --> 0:01:13.396 dozens of wealthy parents accused in the alleged scheme. 0:01:13.196 --> 0:01:16.476 The biggest college admissions fraud in US history. 0:01:16.516 --> 0:01:20.116 Meantime, the scandal stretches from Hollywood to Boston next week. 0:01:20.556 --> 0:01:22.916 It was the largest investigation of its kind in the 0:01:22.996 --> 0:01:27.516 history of the Justice Department. Fifty six cases a home run, 0:01:32.076 --> 0:01:35.156 and then came the case at the very very end, 0:01:35.716 --> 0:01:39.956 the fifty seventh case. This is me in an email 0:01:39.996 --> 0:01:43.156 to the US Attorney's Office of the District of Massachusetts, 0:01:43.356 --> 0:01:48.596 asking about the final case in the Varsity Blues Investigation. Hello, there, 0:01:48.636 --> 0:01:51.036 I'm looking to interview any of the US attorneys who 0:01:51.036 --> 0:01:53.596 were involved in the Amen Couri case from a few 0:01:53.676 --> 0:01:58.836 years ago. Do you think that might be possible? Thanks m. 0:01:58.996 --> 0:02:03.116 A day later I get an answer three lines received. 0:02:04.036 --> 0:02:08.036 Thank you. While we greatly appreciate the invitation, we must 0:02:08.076 --> 0:02:12.676 respectfully decline at this time. At the Department of Justice, 0:02:13.236 --> 0:02:16.076 they do not want to talk about case fifty seven 0:02:16.396 --> 0:02:24.916 of the Varsity Blues Investigation. Oh but I do. My 0:02:24.996 --> 0:02:28.276 name is Malcolm Gladwell. You're listening to Revisionist History, my 0:02:28.396 --> 0:02:32.996 podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. This episode is part 0:02:33.036 --> 0:02:35.116 of a little mini series I'm doing to introduce my 0:02:35.276 --> 0:02:38.716 new book called Revenge of the Tipping Point, the sequel 0:02:38.756 --> 0:02:41.356 to my very first book from twenty five years ago, 0:02:41.676 --> 0:02:45.236 The Tipping Point. If you read Revenge, and of course 0:02:45.276 --> 0:02:47.916 I really hope you do, you'll see that halfway through 0:02:47.996 --> 0:02:52.236 chapter five, the Mysterious Case of the Harvard Women's Rugby Team, 0:02:52.596 --> 0:02:55.676 I make reference to a court case called US v. 0:02:55.956 --> 0:02:56.276 Cooory. 0:02:57.236 --> 0:03:03.716 That's the fifty seventh Varsity Blues case. But in chapter 0:03:03.756 --> 0:03:06.556 five of Revenge of the Tipping Point, I tell only 0:03:06.676 --> 0:03:09.436 part of the story of US v. Koory. Did I 0:03:09.436 --> 0:03:11.916 want to tell the whole story? Of course I did. 0:03:12.356 --> 0:03:14.916 I lost sleep over trying to shoehorn the whole coury 0:03:14.956 --> 0:03:18.596 case into my book because I regard usv. Coory as 0:03:18.636 --> 0:03:22.436 one of the old time, most riveting, most unintentionally hilarious, 0:03:22.716 --> 0:03:28.556 most heartbreaking legal battles ever. I mean, it ticks every 0:03:28.596 --> 0:03:32.756 single one of my boxes. It involves a tantalizing philosophical puzzle, 0:03:33.036 --> 0:03:36.236 It has twists and turns, It makes elite schools look 0:03:36.316 --> 0:03:39.556 absolutely ridiculous, And if you are a regular listener to 0:03:39.596 --> 0:03:43.476 this podcast, you know how happy that makes me. Not 0:03:43.596 --> 0:03:47.676 to mention, it features a cross examination so brutal that 0:03:48.556 --> 0:03:51.796 fair warning. If you are triggered by a defense attorney 0:03:51.836 --> 0:03:55.556 disemboweling a witness in open court, you should probably turn 0:03:55.636 --> 0:03:58.636 this off right now and switch to something safe like 0:03:58.756 --> 0:04:04.476 Joe Rogan. But in the end, I could only figure 0:04:04.516 --> 0:04:07.556 out how to put half of my favorite case ever 0:04:07.996 --> 0:04:11.436 in Revenge of the Tip Point, So I thought, just 0:04:11.476 --> 0:04:15.276 to whet your appetite, I'd use this episode to tell 0:04:15.316 --> 0:04:18.876 you about the other half. What I've come to think 0:04:18.916 --> 0:04:25.556 of as the Georgetown massacre. I was actually in Boca 0:04:25.636 --> 0:04:28.676 Ratone on vacation with my family when I first heard 0:04:28.676 --> 0:04:32.356 about the Kori case. My cousin Kyle mentioned it to 0:04:32.396 --> 0:04:35.236 me in passing, and I was a bit bored. Needed 0:04:35.236 --> 0:04:39.276 something to read, so I ordered the trial transcripts twelve 0:04:39.556 --> 0:04:44.076 hundred pages, started reading them over breakfast. Breakfast led to lunch, 0:04:44.396 --> 0:04:47.756 lunch to dinner, then all day. The next day, the 0:04:47.836 --> 0:04:53.036 lazy river was put on hold. I sat poolside, oblivious 0:04:53.036 --> 0:04:58.236 to the children squealing happily around me. The case centered 0:04:58.396 --> 0:05:01.516 on a very rich man named amon C. Koori, who 0:05:01.556 --> 0:05:05.036 is the son of an even richer man, Aman J. Koory. 0:05:05.436 --> 0:05:08.436 So if you look across industries, I mean, my background 0:05:08.556 --> 0:05:09.076 is private. 0:05:09.756 --> 0:05:12.516 Corey Jr. Didn't want to talk to me, but I 0:05:12.556 --> 0:05:14.956 wanted you to get a sense of his voice. So 0:05:15.036 --> 0:05:18.836 here he is speaking on a podcast called Michigan Reimagined. 0:05:19.316 --> 0:05:23.316 One of his current projects is disrupting the trailer park business. 0:05:23.756 --> 0:05:31.836 Here look across industries, from pagemakers to automobiles, to jet airplanes, 0:05:31.956 --> 0:05:38.996 to helicopters to computers. The only industry that hauls materials 0:05:39.556 --> 0:05:44.276 and men to locations and for the homebuilding industry. The 0:05:44.276 --> 0:05:47.476 home building industry is archaic and it's approach. 0:05:49.196 --> 0:05:52.956 Corey is in his fifties, graying nicely at the temples, 0:05:53.476 --> 0:05:56.956 a long, narrow face framed by a pair of exuberant ears. 0:05:57.556 --> 0:06:00.956 A man who takes care of himself, and his great 0:06:00.996 --> 0:06:05.996 passion is tennis. He played varsity tennis at Brown University. 0:06:06.236 --> 0:06:08.596 He played at the country clubs of Palm Beach and 0:06:08.636 --> 0:06:12.396 Cape Cof. He played with his kids. Something about hitting 0:06:12.476 --> 0:06:16.236 a round, fuzzy ball over a net clearly made him very, 0:06:16.396 --> 0:06:21.276 very happy, And what he really wanted was his oldest daughter, Katherine, 0:06:21.676 --> 0:06:25.476 to play tennis in college, just like he had. So 0:06:25.596 --> 0:06:29.996 one day back in twenty fourteen, Amon Curry goes to 0:06:30.076 --> 0:06:32.716 his college reunion and has a boozy dinner at the 0:06:32.716 --> 0:06:36.156 Capitol Grill in Providence with his old teammates from the 0:06:36.156 --> 0:06:42.436 Brown tennis squad, one of whom is Gordon Ernst aka Gordy, 0:06:42.956 --> 0:06:47.156 who was then the tennis coach at Georgetown University. Gordy 0:06:47.236 --> 0:06:50.316 Ernst was not yet notorious, but after the launch of 0:06:50.356 --> 0:06:56.396 the Varsity Blues investigation, he would be the US Attorney's 0:06:56.436 --> 0:06:59.836 Office for the District of Massachusetts. On the occasion of 0:06:59.836 --> 0:07:06.036 Gordie's sentencing hearing said this about him, Mister Ernst was 0:07:06.076 --> 0:07:09.076 one of the most prolific participants in cheating the college 0:07:09.316 --> 0:07:13.956 admissions system. He put nearly three point five million dollars 0:07:14.036 --> 0:07:17.396 in bribes directly into his pocket and sold close to 0:07:17.476 --> 0:07:22.156 two dozen slots at Georgetown to the highest bidder. And 0:07:22.236 --> 0:07:25.436 according to the US Attorney's Office, one of those two 0:07:25.516 --> 0:07:29.116 dozen slots on the Georgetown tennis team was sold at 0:07:29.116 --> 0:07:33.036 the Boozy Brown reunion dinner to Aim and Coury on 0:07:33.156 --> 0:07:37.876 behalf of his daughter, Catherine. Gordy went down and he 0:07:37.916 --> 0:07:42.316 brought his old teammate with him, Case number fifty seven. 0:07:44.956 --> 0:07:48.436 Midway through my long days in Bocha, devouring the trial transcript, 0:07:48.676 --> 0:07:51.796 I realized that Cooury's lawyers were based just down the road, 0:07:52.236 --> 0:07:55.436 so I called them up. I said, I'm in Boca. 0:07:56.156 --> 0:07:59.916 I'm up to page eleven hundred. They said, come on down, 0:08:00.636 --> 0:08:02.996 and I made a bee line from Miami. Met up 0:08:02.996 --> 0:08:06.356 with Roy Black, his partner Howard Shrebnick, and their two 0:08:06.396 --> 0:08:11.156 longtime partners, big shiny office tower, conference room, stacks of 0:08:11.236 --> 0:08:15.756 documents on the table. That's great, sure, yeah, So Roy 0:08:15.836 --> 0:08:20.356 Black is tall, slender, usteer almost eighty years old, an 0:08:20.396 --> 0:08:25.796 apex legal predator, completely and utterly intimidating. His nickname is 0:08:26.036 --> 0:08:30.276 the Professor. Howard Shrebnick is much younger. He looks like 0:08:30.316 --> 0:08:32.916 he's in the nineteen eighties hair metal band. He races 0:08:32.916 --> 0:08:37.676 his motorcycles around Miami in the early morning hours. Oh, 0:08:37.716 --> 0:08:40.196 I nearly forgot to mention, well. 0:08:39.996 --> 0:08:43.796 Your argument next in case fourteen four nineteen Luis versus 0:08:43.876 --> 0:08:44.636 United States. 0:08:44.956 --> 0:08:46.476 Mister Shrebnick, thank. 0:08:46.316 --> 0:08:48.876 You, mister Chief Justice, and may it please the court. 0:08:49.836 --> 0:08:52.916 Has also argued two cases before the Supreme Court. 0:08:53.116 --> 0:08:57.316 Howard is the intellectual, does all the legal work as 0:08:57.316 --> 0:08:59.956 well as working on the fact. But I leave for 0:09:00.076 --> 0:09:02.756 him all that kind of stuff. That's the great thing 0:09:02.796 --> 0:09:05.236 about the way that we work. And he'll read cases 0:09:05.276 --> 0:09:08.316 all day and all night. And his only dream in 0:09:08.396 --> 0:09:10.796 life as if the case can go to the Supreme Court. 0:09:11.196 --> 0:09:14.116 But I'm trying to make sure it doesn't go into 0:09:14.156 --> 0:09:16.436 appeals by winning the trial. 0:09:16.756 --> 0:09:19.716 And Roy began by telling me what Amon said when 0:09:19.756 --> 0:09:21.116 they first talked about the case. 0:09:21.756 --> 0:09:24.036 He said, when he came here, said I want to 0:09:24.076 --> 0:09:26.476 go to trial. I don't want to take a plea. 0:09:26.756 --> 0:09:30.276 I don't feel that I did was a crime. Now, 0:09:30.396 --> 0:09:33.516 maybe people will disagree with the way I did it, 0:09:33.596 --> 0:09:35.516 and of course then I did it in a stupid 0:09:35.596 --> 0:09:38.636 way that it makes it look bad and all of that. 0:09:38.756 --> 0:09:41.156 But I don't feel I committed a crime, and I 0:09:41.196 --> 0:09:44.396 think it would be against my own integrity if I 0:09:44.436 --> 0:09:46.476 went in there and played guilty just to get a 0:09:46.636 --> 0:09:49.436 shorter sentence, and if they give me a longer sentence, 0:09:49.476 --> 0:09:54.196 so be it. I would rather have my day in court, 0:09:54.436 --> 0:09:57.556 let a jury make the decision and what I want 0:09:57.596 --> 0:09:59.916 to do. And this is about six to seven months 0:09:59.956 --> 0:10:02.636 before his trial. He said, I will Are you willing 0:10:02.716 --> 0:10:05.196 to take the case with an agreement you're going to 0:10:05.196 --> 0:10:07.356 go to trial? I said, yes, that's what we do. 0:10:08.196 --> 0:10:11.356 A little digression. Many years ago, I went hiking in 0:10:11.436 --> 0:10:13.876 Portugal with a good friend of mine whose dad was 0:10:13.996 --> 0:10:17.356 very wealthy, and we got lost and I said to her, 0:10:17.716 --> 0:10:20.476 are you worried? And she said no, because I have 0:10:20.636 --> 0:10:25.436 the number. And I said what's the number? And she said, oh, 0:10:25.916 --> 0:10:28.956 my dad has these ex Massad guys on retainer, and 0:10:28.996 --> 0:10:31.556 if you're ever in trouble, you call them and they 0:10:31.556 --> 0:10:37.156 come and get you. Massaud Israel's secret intelligence service. It 0:10:37.276 --> 0:10:40.596 is entirely possible she was pulling my leg I don't know. 0:10:41.276 --> 0:10:44.036 So why am I telling you this? Because Roy Black 0:10:44.316 --> 0:10:47.556 and Howard Shrebnik are the legal version of those ex 0:10:47.636 --> 0:10:50.676 massad guys. If you are a very rich person in 0:10:50.756 --> 0:10:53.676 America and you find yourself in a great deal of 0:10:53.796 --> 0:10:56.876 legal peril, your best bet is to call on the 0:10:56.916 --> 0:11:01.036 offices a Black and Shrebnick. We're going to be spending 0:11:01.436 --> 0:11:03.436 a lot of time with Roy and Howard over the 0:11:03.436 --> 0:11:06.756 course of the next two episodes. Oh yeah, I'm doing 0:11:06.836 --> 0:11:09.916 two episodes on the Georgetown massacre, and they will come 0:11:09.916 --> 0:11:13.516 a point when you will ask yourself, is Malcolm Glabwell 0:11:13.636 --> 0:11:15.476 totally in the tank for the law firm of Black 0:11:15.476 --> 0:11:18.996 and Shrebnik And the answer is, of course, I am. 0:11:20.076 --> 0:11:21.476 Wait where were we? 0:11:22.876 --> 0:11:22.996 Oh? 0:11:23.076 --> 0:11:23.916 Yes, am? 0:11:23.996 --> 0:11:27.716 And Koory is charged and indicted one count of conspiracy 0:11:27.716 --> 0:11:31.436 to commit mail fraud, one count of bribery. He retains 0:11:31.556 --> 0:11:34.916 Roy Black and Howard Shrebnik, and he decides that he's 0:11:34.996 --> 0:11:38.996 not going to take a plea. Now understand that everyone 0:11:39.156 --> 0:11:43.676 else charged in the Varsity Blues investigation, all fifty six 0:11:43.796 --> 0:11:49.316 of them pled guilty. The famous actresses Felicity Huffman Laurie Lochlin, 0:11:50.156 --> 0:11:53.076 folded their cards, paid a fine. Some of them did 0:11:53.116 --> 0:11:56.156 short stints in prison. How could they not They were 0:11:56.156 --> 0:11:59.636 caught paying money under the table to college coaches to 0:11:59.676 --> 0:12:03.116 pretend that their kids could play sports when they actually couldn't, 0:12:03.916 --> 0:12:06.956 and why so their kids could get into a school 0:12:07.236 --> 0:12:12.636 that they otherwise could not. That's illegal, right. 0:12:14.036 --> 0:12:18.596 You know. Bribe is one of those basic crimes kind 0:12:18.596 --> 0:12:21.636 of like murder, theft, rape, by which I mean not 0:12:21.716 --> 0:12:24.476 that it's as grave as that, but it's one of 0:12:24.476 --> 0:12:28.636 those crimes that are in criminal law scholars called malum incee, 0:12:29.036 --> 0:12:32.436 meaning the earliest crimes, the ones conduct that was immoral, 0:12:32.516 --> 0:12:37.356 and that's indisputably immoral. That's why it became immediately part 0:12:37.396 --> 0:12:39.796 of every criminal code going back I don't know, probably 0:12:39.796 --> 0:12:40.836 Hamlabi's days. 0:12:41.316 --> 0:12:44.956 This is Leo Katz, Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania. 0:12:45.036 --> 0:12:47.876 In the midst of my infatuation with US v. Korry, 0:12:48.356 --> 0:12:51.476 I asked one of the countries leading legal experts to 0:12:51.516 --> 0:12:53.476 read up on the case so I could ask him 0:12:53.596 --> 0:12:54.396 questions about it. 0:12:54.756 --> 0:12:56.876 And then, of course there are crimes that are they're 0:12:56.876 --> 0:13:01.036 called malum prohibitum, like you know, not registering for the draft, 0:13:01.236 --> 0:13:04.716 or selling illegal drugs, or even not paying taxes, which 0:13:04.756 --> 0:13:07.796 only became crimes because we decided to make them. 0:13:07.836 --> 0:13:11.836 That point is that we expect to have arguments and 0:13:11.916 --> 0:13:16.916 complications and gray areas about malum prohibitum, the made up crimes, 0:13:17.196 --> 0:13:22.556 but not malaman sa, the indisputably immoral acts. Those are 0:13:22.596 --> 0:13:25.276 supposed to be open and shut for Aim and Curry 0:13:25.316 --> 0:13:28.236 to say, I'm going to fight this bribery charge. I 0:13:28.276 --> 0:13:30.636 don't think what I did was wrong. Was an act 0:13:30.716 --> 0:13:35.876 of extraordinary audacity, bordering on just plain foolishness. He decided 0:13:35.916 --> 0:13:38.916 to be done Quixote and tilt at the windmill that 0:13:39.076 --> 0:13:42.756 was the US Attorney's office of the District of Massachusetts. 0:13:43.156 --> 0:13:45.956 So he came to the same conference room I was 0:13:45.996 --> 0:13:47.916 sitting in to ask for help. 0:13:48.596 --> 0:13:51.476 So that's really what happened. He wanted to have a trial, 0:13:51.556 --> 0:13:53.916 and we said, yes, we will do it and dedicate 0:13:53.956 --> 0:13:57.596 ourselves to get ready for this case. No, and that's 0:13:57.636 --> 0:13:58.316 how it started. 0:13:58.436 --> 0:14:02.636 So when you have a case like this, you must 0:14:02.716 --> 0:14:06.036 have a kind of gut instinct about whether it's winnable 0:14:06.036 --> 0:14:09.476 at the outset. So I'm curious about what you're well, 0:14:11.196 --> 0:14:11.596 I don't know. 0:14:11.676 --> 0:14:14.196 We did not, at least I didn't have that. I 0:14:14.236 --> 0:14:17.196 thought that we were behind the eight ball from the beginning, 0:14:17.756 --> 0:14:21.516 that everybody else had either lost or pled guilty. And 0:14:21.596 --> 0:14:26.236 I didn't have great optimism about the case, you know, 0:14:26.276 --> 0:14:29.956 when the client came in. But I said, listen, that's 0:14:30.036 --> 0:14:33.636 been my whole career is taking cases where things look bleak. 0:14:33.716 --> 0:14:36.236 I mean, that's what we specialize in. 0:14:36.876 --> 0:14:39.876 Black shook his head. The lawyer's nightmare is a client 0:14:39.916 --> 0:14:42.716 who will not take the easy way out. On the 0:14:42.756 --> 0:14:45.596 other side of the conference room table, Howard was shaking 0:14:45.596 --> 0:14:46.356 his head as well. 0:14:47.276 --> 0:14:48.436 He wanted to testify. 0:14:48.956 --> 0:14:51.716 In fact, it was a battle to convince him he 0:14:51.756 --> 0:14:54.796 should not testify, because he wanted the jury to know 0:14:54.876 --> 0:14:57.356 the truth that he did not bribe the coach, and 0:14:57.396 --> 0:14:59.716 that what he did was an act of generosity after 0:14:59.796 --> 0:15:01.716 the fact, not a crime. 0:15:01.476 --> 0:15:02.396 Before the fact. 0:15:02.836 --> 0:15:05.756 A man attacking a windmill, armed only with a tennis 0:15:05.876 --> 0:15:09.836 racket a lost cause to I tell you that this 0:15:09.996 --> 0:15:12.716 was my favorite legal case ever, I think I did. 0:15:27.876 --> 0:15:30.436 The first witness for the government was a man named 0:15:30.476 --> 0:15:33.956 Timothy Donovan. He was one of the former Brown tennis 0:15:33.996 --> 0:15:37.436 players who attended the Fateful Dinner at the Capitol Grill. 0:15:37.996 --> 0:15:42.676 He now runs a tennis academy in Milton, Massachusetts. There's 0:15:42.676 --> 0:15:46.236 no tape of the trial proceedings, but we've recreated testimonies 0:15:46.236 --> 0:15:49.636 for you using two loyal members of the Greater Pushkin community, 0:15:50.036 --> 0:15:53.636 Dak Shepherd and Britt Marling. Here's Britt as one of 0:15:53.676 --> 0:15:57.276 the prosecutors examining Donovan, as played by Dak Shepherd. 0:15:57.716 --> 0:15:59.316 Are you familiar with the defendant? 0:15:59.476 --> 0:15:59.676 Am? 0:15:59.756 --> 0:16:00.196 And Corey? 0:16:01.316 --> 0:16:01.716 I am? 0:16:02.516 --> 0:16:03.236 How do you know him? 0:16:04.636 --> 0:16:07.796 We were teammates on the tennis team at Brown University 0:16:08.276 --> 0:16:09.116 in the late eighties. 0:16:10.756 --> 0:16:12.716 Did there come a time when you entered into an 0:16:12.796 --> 0:16:14.916 arrangement with the defendant concerning his daughter? 0:16:16.156 --> 0:16:16.436 Yes? 0:16:17.756 --> 0:16:19.236 What was the nature of that arrangement. 0:16:21.076 --> 0:16:23.476 The nature of it was, I was going to help 0:16:23.596 --> 0:16:26.876 facilitate a deal where the defendant would pay two hundred 0:16:26.876 --> 0:16:30.476 thousand in cash in exchange for a recruiting slot at 0:16:30.516 --> 0:16:31.716 Georgetown University. 0:16:32.756 --> 0:16:35.156 And who was he going to pay two hundred thousand 0:16:35.196 --> 0:16:37.116 dollars in cash to as a part of this deal. 0:16:38.396 --> 0:16:41.876 Gordon Ernst, the coach at the time at Georgetown. 0:16:42.876 --> 0:16:44.556 And what was the payment for. 0:16:45.556 --> 0:16:49.836 An admission slot on the team, and what was your 0:16:49.916 --> 0:16:53.596 role in the deal? I was essentially the middle person 0:16:53.676 --> 0:16:57.556 to help with communication back and forth between Gordy Ernst 0:16:57.596 --> 0:16:58.516 and Aim and Coury. 0:17:00.156 --> 0:17:02.796 Was that payment made? 0:17:03.196 --> 0:17:07.276 It was by whom by Aim and Coury. 0:17:08.916 --> 0:17:12.036 What was your understanding of whether the defendant's daughter was 0:17:12.116 --> 0:17:14.276 actually qualified to play tennis? 0:17:16.156 --> 0:17:18.796 She was not qualified to play at that level of 0:17:18.836 --> 0:17:19.956 college tennis. 0:17:20.796 --> 0:17:23.196 What was your understanding of whether she was actually going 0:17:23.236 --> 0:17:24.636 to play tennis at Georgetown? 0:17:26.036 --> 0:17:28.276 The defendant and I talked about how she had no 0:17:28.356 --> 0:17:29.316 plans to play there. 0:17:30.396 --> 0:17:33.516 To be specific, Donovan went to Cooy's house on Cape 0:17:33.556 --> 0:17:36.636 cod picked up a brown paper grocery bag with one 0:17:36.716 --> 0:17:40.276 hundred and eighty thousand dollars in cash, got twenty K 0:17:40.356 --> 0:17:44.156 for himself, and delivered the package to Gordie Ernst's wife, 0:17:44.596 --> 0:17:47.196 who stashed it in a safe deposit box. 0:17:48.356 --> 0:17:51.356 How did catherine scores compared to the average scores of 0:17:51.396 --> 0:17:54.396 your clients who were admitted to Georgetown as tennis recruits? 0:17:55.036 --> 0:17:56.396 They were quite a bit lower. 0:17:57.836 --> 0:18:01.196 If we can look at page four, please we see 0:18:01.196 --> 0:18:04.596 a copy of Catherine's transcript, and in particular, her junior 0:18:04.676 --> 0:18:09.396 year average was seventy eight point five. So how did 0:18:09.476 --> 0:18:12.156 Catherine's GPA compare to the average GPA of your clients 0:18:12.196 --> 0:18:17.196 who were admitted to Georgetown as tennis recruits significantly lower. 0:18:18.676 --> 0:18:23.036 After Donovan came a parade of other witnesses, tennis people, 0:18:23.396 --> 0:18:27.796 people from Katherine Corey's high school, her guidance counselor tennis coach, 0:18:27.996 --> 0:18:31.036 all saying the same thing, Katie Coury at a school 0:18:31.076 --> 0:18:35.436 like Georgetown is a dubious proposition. Day two of the 0:18:35.476 --> 0:18:39.916 trial was not good for the defense. Day three not good. 0:18:40.276 --> 0:18:42.956 Day four comes and goes. If you are Aman Curry 0:18:43.196 --> 0:18:46.476 sitting in the defendant's chair, you're thinking, I should have 0:18:46.516 --> 0:18:51.756 taken a plea. I'm going away for years. But then 0:18:52.716 --> 0:18:57.236 came day five, the Georgetown massacre. Let's talk about Brenda Smith, 0:18:57.796 --> 0:19:03.276 which I thought was the in my reading, was the highlight. 0:19:04.756 --> 0:19:08.196 On day five, Howard and Roy called a witness who 0:19:08.276 --> 0:19:12.316 worked as a fund for the Georgetown Athletic department. Her 0:19:12.396 --> 0:19:15.916 name was Brenda Smith. Smith did not come to the 0:19:15.916 --> 0:19:19.836 courthouse willingly. She was peened. All she knew going in 0:19:20.076 --> 0:19:23.196 was what the Georgetown lawyers clearly told her, which was 0:19:23.396 --> 0:19:25.756 not to worry. This is going to be easy. She 0:19:25.956 --> 0:19:29.036 wasn't on trial, Amon Courry was. The case was black 0:19:29.036 --> 0:19:31.596 and white and she was on the winning side, malamence. 0:19:32.796 --> 0:19:40.716 So you describe that wholehit moment exchange for me, because I, 0:19:41.036 --> 0:19:42.156 like I said, all I can do is read it. 0:19:42.196 --> 0:19:44.436 So bring it to life. Howard sets the scene. 0:19:44.796 --> 0:19:48.476 So now Brenda Smith, whose sole job as the quote 0:19:48.556 --> 0:19:52.836 senior director of development for athletics close quote, and development 0:19:52.876 --> 0:19:59.076 doesn't mean bodybuilding, conditioning. Fitness development is a euphemism for 0:19:59.276 --> 0:20:03.476 money raising money. She's now on the witness stand and 0:20:03.556 --> 0:20:08.276 she's going to suggest that money doesn't matter with regard 0:20:08.356 --> 0:20:12.236 to admissions, that her job is entirely independent of the 0:20:12.276 --> 0:20:13.316 admissions process. 0:20:13.836 --> 0:20:16.556 This was the moral heart of the case. Why does 0:20:16.596 --> 0:20:19.876 Amon Courry belong in jail because he used a grocery 0:20:19.916 --> 0:20:23.756 bag full of cash to corrupt the admissions process at 0:20:23.756 --> 0:20:27.356 a selective institution where the admissions process is supposed to 0:20:27.356 --> 0:20:32.356 be about merit and achievement. So Smith takes the stand. 0:20:32.916 --> 0:20:36.956 Roy's asking any questions once again? Are voice actors? 0:20:39.076 --> 0:20:41.716 All right? I wanted to ask you about admissions into 0:20:41.716 --> 0:20:45.556 the university. The university has an admissions department correct or 0:20:45.596 --> 0:20:54.316 admissions office correct, And you are not an admissions officer. No, however, 0:20:54.356 --> 0:20:57.516 you would communicate with admissions officers would you not? 0:20:58.636 --> 0:20:59.596 No, I never did. 0:21:00.796 --> 0:21:03.556 Would you ever get involved in attempting to influence the 0:21:03.596 --> 0:21:06.596 admission of people into the university, No? 0:21:06.876 --> 0:21:07.316 I did not. 0:21:08.876 --> 0:21:13.476 Did you ever lobby the admissions office the admission's office. 0:21:13.116 --> 0:21:13.596 No no. 0:21:15.996 --> 0:21:18.796 Did you ever advise the admission's office about the amount 0:21:18.876 --> 0:21:19.836 of money people had? 0:21:21.116 --> 0:21:21.196 No? 0:21:22.876 --> 0:21:25.716 Did you ever advise the admissions office that an athlete 0:21:25.876 --> 0:21:29.356 or a potential athlete came from a well positioned family. 0:21:30.236 --> 0:21:30.356 No? 0:21:31.876 --> 0:21:34.876 Did you ever advise the admission office about the net 0:21:34.916 --> 0:21:37.076 worth of parents of potential recruits? 0:21:38.316 --> 0:21:38.796 I did not. 0:21:40.476 --> 0:21:43.796 Did you ever advise the admissions office about the value 0:21:43.836 --> 0:21:44.796 of parents' homes? 0:21:45.636 --> 0:21:46.636 I did not know. 0:21:47.956 --> 0:21:50.596 Brenda Smith does not seem to have realized at this 0:21:50.716 --> 0:21:54.876 point that Howard and Roy have in their possession every email, 0:21:54.996 --> 0:21:58.436 every email she wrote in the time of her employment 0:21:58.476 --> 0:22:02.036 at Georgetown. Or maybe she does, but the implications of 0:22:02.076 --> 0:22:05.076 that fact haven't sunk in. I mean, maybe she thought, 0:22:05.556 --> 0:22:08.836 I wrote thousands and thousands of emails, ninety nine percent 0:22:08.876 --> 0:22:11.436 of them. We're harmless. There's no way they read all 0:22:11.436 --> 0:22:15.756 of them, is there? Well, yes, there is, and Roy 0:22:15.796 --> 0:22:18.356 starts putting his favorites up on the screen. 0:22:19.716 --> 0:22:22.036 All right, Can we turn to Exhibit two eighty five, 0:22:22.076 --> 0:22:25.596 And if we could highlight the middle paragraph, by the way, 0:22:25.956 --> 0:22:28.996 who is Let's go to the top first. I'm sorry, 0:22:29.116 --> 0:22:30.236 who is David Nolan? 0:22:32.396 --> 0:22:34.956 He is the women's soccer coach. 0:22:36.396 --> 0:22:39.676 All right, and he's asking you if she is somebody 0:22:39.716 --> 0:22:40.716 you want to cultivate. 0:22:40.756 --> 0:22:43.836 Correct, that's what the email says. 0:22:44.236 --> 0:22:47.116 Good, tell me what the word cultivate. 0:22:46.636 --> 0:22:51.716 Means, develop a relationship with typically? 0:22:53.156 --> 0:22:56.396 All right? If we could, Oh, you put down there 0:22:56.396 --> 0:23:02.836 in the second one, you wrote five point six million house, right, correct? 0:23:05.396 --> 0:23:07.756 So I guess you do find out how much parents' 0:23:07.756 --> 0:23:08.476 homes are worth. 0:23:08.556 --> 0:23:12.756 Right well, you asked me earlier. If I share that 0:23:12.836 --> 0:23:18.756 information with admissions, I do not. This is an email 0:23:18.956 --> 0:23:20.836 with a coach. This is different. 0:23:23.236 --> 0:23:25.996 So as I understand it, then you're telling the soccer 0:23:26.116 --> 0:23:30.516 coach that a prospective athletics soccer players' parents own a 0:23:30.596 --> 0:23:37.276 home worth five point six million dollars, right, yes? Now, 0:23:37.276 --> 0:23:39.956 can I ask you this, what does that have to 0:23:40.036 --> 0:23:42.036 do with their ability to play soccer? 0:23:44.996 --> 0:23:45.356 Nothing? 0:23:46.716 --> 0:23:48.676 Does that have something to do with the ability to 0:23:48.676 --> 0:23:50.916 get them to donate money to the soccer team. 0:23:52.996 --> 0:23:58.516 No, it's simply the part of the family relationship that 0:23:58.636 --> 0:24:00.436 I would be interested in. 0:24:02.556 --> 0:24:04.956 The trial had ended well over a year before I 0:24:04.996 --> 0:24:07.796 met with the Coury defense team, but everyone in the 0:24:07.796 --> 0:24:11.396 conference room that day, Roy Howard and the two partners 0:24:11.516 --> 0:24:16.436 Jackie Purchek and Maria n Neira remembered the key moments perfectly. 0:24:17.356 --> 0:24:20.396 Something would come up in our conversation. They would pick 0:24:20.476 --> 0:24:22.516 up one of the stacks of transcripts on the table 0:24:23.116 --> 0:24:24.796 and just start reading one. 0:24:24.716 --> 0:24:27.436 Of my favorite one of the coaches writing to Brenda Smith, 0:24:28.036 --> 0:24:31.476 the coaches will have to recruit really rich kids who 0:24:31.516 --> 0:24:32.116