WEBVTT - The Tipping Point Revisited: Georgetown Massacre Part 2 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:15.796 Pushkin. 0:00:20.396 --> 0:00:22.996 On the fifth day in the trial of US v. Kory, 0:00:23.636 --> 0:00:26.636 right after the defense left the fundraiser for the Georgetown 0:00:26.716 --> 0:00:30.196 University Athletic Department in small pieces on the floor of 0:00:30.196 --> 0:00:33.836 the courtroom, the attorneys for Amon Kurry asked the judge 0:00:34.116 --> 0:00:37.956 for a sidebar. They wanted to call a witness, a 0:00:37.996 --> 0:00:42.276 surprise witness who the defense team had somehow persuaded to 0:00:42.316 --> 0:00:47.156 make an appearance. She's in the bathroom, Howard Trebnick told 0:00:47.156 --> 0:00:49.916 the judge. I just wanted to let you know. They 0:00:49.996 --> 0:00:52.676 just whispered to me that she's coming. I didn't want 0:00:52.756 --> 0:00:57.276 you too, his voice trailed off. The prosecutors in the 0:00:57.316 --> 0:01:00.076 case from the US Attorney's office were there in the 0:01:00.116 --> 0:01:04.556 sidebar too, standing right beside Shrebnick. And it is safe 0:01:04.556 --> 0:01:08.716 to say this sudden revelation came as a shock to them. 0:01:09.196 --> 0:01:12.876 They weren't expecting this particular witness to show up. They 0:01:12.876 --> 0:01:16.116 were counting on her not showing up, and now she 0:01:16.316 --> 0:01:23.516 was here in the bathroom. Fuck then, Howard says, and 0:01:23.556 --> 0:01:27.636 we're going to propose to introduce text messages that she 0:01:27.756 --> 0:01:34.196 wrote back in May of twenty fifteen, text messages. Fuck 0:01:43.156 --> 0:01:46.276 my name is Malcolm gladwell you're listening to Revisionist History, 0:01:46.476 --> 0:01:50.596 my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. This is part 0:01:50.636 --> 0:01:53.636 two of the story of my favorite court case of 0:01:53.756 --> 0:01:55.476 all time, usv. 0:01:55.556 --> 0:01:55.876 Coory. 0:01:56.476 --> 0:01:58.876 In part one, which you should listen to first if 0:01:58.956 --> 0:02:01.796 you have not already, we talked about how Roy Black 0:02:01.956 --> 0:02:05.956 and Howard Strebnick were presented with an impossible case, a 0:02:06.036 --> 0:02:09.076 client who openly admitted to giving one hundred and eighty 0:02:09.316 --> 0:02:12.596 thousand dollars in cash in a brown paper bag to 0:02:12.636 --> 0:02:15.996 the Georgetown University tennis coach in order to get his 0:02:16.116 --> 0:02:22.076 daughter admitted to the school. Days one, two, three, and four, 0:02:22.196 --> 0:02:25.996 the trial had been a disaster for the defense. Am 0:02:26.036 --> 0:02:29.076 and Curry seemed destined for prison, but by the end 0:02:29.076 --> 0:02:32.956 of the Georgetown massacre on day five, Howard and Roy 0:02:33.156 --> 0:02:35.716 had managed to introduce an element of doubt into the 0:02:35.716 --> 0:02:40.436 minds of the jury. What exactly is or isn't a bribe? 0:02:40.716 --> 0:02:43.716 And are the dubious actions of a wealthy man worse 0:02:44.276 --> 0:02:48.796 than the dubious actions of a wealthy university. This episode 0:02:49.236 --> 0:02:52.756 is about what happened in the afternoon on day five, 0:02:53.356 --> 0:02:58.516 the aftermath of the Georgetown massacre. The mystery witness entered 0:02:58.556 --> 0:03:04.876 text messages. What were the talk about the during the trial? 0:03:04.916 --> 0:03:08.316 What you feel were the most significant turning points. 0:03:10.076 --> 0:03:13.556 Most trials don't have one thing like that, but things 0:03:13.636 --> 0:03:17.356 just developed. You know. The more you worked on it, 0:03:18.196 --> 0:03:20.756 the more we got into the case, the more facts 0:03:20.796 --> 0:03:23.916 we learned, the more details, the better it looked. 0:03:24.316 --> 0:03:26.476 I talked with Roy Black when we met at his 0:03:26.516 --> 0:03:30.276 offices in downtown Miami. Roy is a trial lawyer. He 0:03:30.316 --> 0:03:33.116 and his partner Howard are maybe the greatest defense team 0:03:33.116 --> 0:03:37.596 of their generation. They construct elaborate narratives out of mountains 0:03:37.596 --> 0:03:41.116 of complicated facts. They are not mystery novelists who tell 0:03:41.156 --> 0:03:44.436 stories with a clever twist on the last page. Things 0:03:45.116 --> 0:03:50.116 just develop. But then Roy Black thought about it a 0:03:50.116 --> 0:03:54.956 little bit and he said, well, actually, I take it back. 0:03:55.836 --> 0:03:59.916 There was a knockout bunch. It was the mystery witness. 0:04:00.196 --> 0:04:04.236 I mean to me, that was like an extraordinary event 0:04:04.356 --> 0:04:04.716 at the. 0:04:04.716 --> 0:04:11.436 Trial from the very beginning. And Howard had a problem. 0:04:11.756 --> 0:04:15.156 They could show that Georgetown was a corrupt institution where 0:04:15.156 --> 0:04:19.036 the lines between admissions and fundraising had been all but obliterated. 0:04:19.796 --> 0:04:22.876 That was the point of the Georgetown massacre. But that 0:04:22.916 --> 0:04:24.756 didn't resolve that problem. 0:04:25.036 --> 0:04:28.156 If we say, Okay, the whole system's corrupt, and our 0:04:28.236 --> 0:04:32.196 client took advantage of the corrupt system by paying money. 0:04:32.716 --> 0:04:35.996 What are we doing. We're admitting that our own clients corrupt. 0:04:36.356 --> 0:04:39.996 The Georgetown massacre, in other words, didn't win them the case. 0:04:40.556 --> 0:04:44.516 It simply leveled the playing field. They needed something more, 0:04:44.996 --> 0:04:48.836 another layer to their argument, proof that Georgetown was worse 0:04:48.916 --> 0:04:52.196 than Amon Curry. And in the first few difficult days 0:04:52.196 --> 0:04:55.396 of the trial, when the government was running roughshod over 0:04:55.436 --> 0:04:58.676 at Amon Curry, Howard and Roy began to drop little 0:04:58.756 --> 0:05:03.556 bread crumbs. They were cryptic. Chances are the jury missed them. 0:05:03.836 --> 0:05:06.756 But if you read through the trial transcripts, all twelve 0:05:06.836 --> 0:05:10.676 hundred pages of them, and you pay attention, it's obvious 0:05:10.756 --> 0:05:15.676 something is afoot. The first inkling came during an offhand 0:05:15.716 --> 0:05:20.036 moment in Roy's cross examination of a Georgetown admissions officer 0:05:20.396 --> 0:05:24.436 named Meg Lycey. Once again, we have our wonderful voice 0:05:24.436 --> 0:05:27.356 actors Dak Sheppard and britt Marling. 0:05:28.196 --> 0:05:31.916 Listen, isn't it a fact that at Georgetown you have 0:05:31.996 --> 0:05:34.516 a software called Salesforce? Don't you. 0:05:36.116 --> 0:05:38.076 Not that? I remember? 0:05:39.316 --> 0:05:42.476 Isn't it a fact that you have an investigation into 0:05:42.516 --> 0:05:45.756 the net worth of the parents of potential students. 0:05:46.116 --> 0:05:51.436 The prosecution jumps up immediately objection, which in retrospect was weird. 0:05:51.876 --> 0:05:54.556 What was it about the mention of that word sales 0:05:54.676 --> 0:05:57.796 force that led the government to stand up abruptly and 0:05:57.876 --> 0:06:03.196 say stop no. But the judge won't have it overruled. 0:06:03.916 --> 0:06:05.636 I don't know about that. 0:06:06.636 --> 0:06:10.796 Lyce denies any knowledge. Roy moves on. Then, at the 0:06:10.916 --> 0:06:14.996 end of the Georgetown massacre with Brenda Smith, he tries again. 0:06:15.716 --> 0:06:19.596 He leads Brenda through a long series of questions about fundraising. 0:06:20.236 --> 0:06:23.916 She's evasive in her answers. Then Roy asks, out of 0:06:23.956 --> 0:06:24.596 the blue. 0:06:24.916 --> 0:06:27.516 Does Georgetown use a program sales force? 0:06:29.436 --> 0:06:31.676 It is my understanding that they do. 0:06:33.036 --> 0:06:34.196 And what is salesforce? 0:06:36.356 --> 0:06:40.556 It's a customer relations management tool. 0:06:41.276 --> 0:06:45.356 Roy follows with a few more questions than he says, all. 0:06:45.356 --> 0:06:48.316 Right, well, let me then show you a document marked 0:06:48.436 --> 0:06:48.876 in you. 0:06:49.516 --> 0:06:52.276 Roy is just about to put a document on the screen, 0:06:52.556 --> 0:06:55.196 a document that he is desperate to show the jury. 0:06:55.396 --> 0:06:58.436 His finger is literally on the clicker, but just as 0:06:58.476 --> 0:07:03.036 he does, the prosecutor jumps up again objection. The judge 0:07:03.036 --> 0:07:08.796 agrees sustained under the rules of a trial, if you 0:07:08.876 --> 0:07:11.396 have evidence you want to show to the jury. You 0:07:11.476 --> 0:07:14.556 have to find a witness to authenticate it, someone who 0:07:14.596 --> 0:07:17.996 will say it's real. That's what Roy is trying to 0:07:17.996 --> 0:07:21.236 do with Brenda Smith, get her to say, yes, I 0:07:21.316 --> 0:07:24.596 know all about that, but he's shut down. Your honor 0:07:24.956 --> 0:07:30.796 objection sustained. You have what you think is a knockout punch, 0:07:31.036 --> 0:07:34.996 and you can't show it to the jury. Plan A foiled. 0:07:35.636 --> 0:07:36.356 So what do you do? 0:07:37.316 --> 0:07:41.676 You go to Plan B. The mystery witness and the 0:07:41.716 --> 0:07:46.436 text messages a little bombshell dropped in the middle of 0:07:46.436 --> 0:07:47.436 the sidebar. 0:07:49.716 --> 0:07:52.236 Your honor, we call Katherine Coury. 0:07:56.756 --> 0:08:00.036 There had never been any indication during the first few 0:08:00.116 --> 0:08:03.516 days of usv. Coory that the person at the heart 0:08:03.556 --> 0:08:07.036 of the case, the person on whose behalf Amon Curry 0:08:07.076 --> 0:08:10.116 had paid one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in cash 0:08:10.396 --> 0:08:13.636 to the coach of the Georgetown tennis team, would show up. 0:08:16.196 --> 0:08:20.436 The government's lead prosecutor made this clear in his opening statement. 0:08:20.956 --> 0:08:23.756 He told the jury, we're not here because of the 0:08:23.796 --> 0:08:27.116 defendant's daughter. You're going to hear about her grades and 0:08:27.156 --> 0:08:29.516 her test scores, the fact that she wasn't very good 0:08:29.516 --> 0:08:32.556 at tennis. But to be clear, we're not here because 0:08:32.596 --> 0:08:36.636 of Katherine. We are here talking about Catherine because of 0:08:36.676 --> 0:08:41.636 the crimes the defendant committed outside of her formal application process. 0:08:42.396 --> 0:08:44.356 So during the trial, we're going to ask you to 0:08:44.396 --> 0:08:48.756 focus on the defendant's actions and his words and those 0:08:48.756 --> 0:08:55.036 of his co conspirators. In other words, the prosecution wanted 0:08:55.076 --> 0:08:58.276 to make a case about Katherine Courry's shortcomings as a 0:08:58.316 --> 0:09:02.836 tennis player and student without the awkwardness of actually having 0:09:02.916 --> 0:09:06.916 Katherine speak for herself. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, 0:09:07.476 --> 0:09:11.636 we would prefer if catherine career remains an abstraction. But 0:09:11.716 --> 0:09:13.796 of course, if you are the legal team of Black 0:09:13.836 --> 0:09:17.276 and Shrebnik and you sense a certain reluctance on the 0:09:17.276 --> 0:09:20.276 part of your adversaries to confront the person at the 0:09:20.276 --> 0:09:23.956 heart of the case, what do you do You convinced 0:09:23.956 --> 0:09:26.796 the person at the heart of the case to make 0:09:26.836 --> 0:09:27.476 an appearance. 0:09:32.836 --> 0:09:36.116 I would say the one thing that stands out that 0:09:36.356 --> 0:09:41.676 really made a huge difference was the daughter testifying introducing 0:09:42.116 --> 0:09:45.396 the text messages with her father. I mean, to me, 0:09:45.556 --> 0:09:52.236 that was like an extraordinary event at the trial, and 0:09:53.116 --> 0:09:56.236 I thought it was really a great part of the case. 0:09:56.916 --> 0:10:00.156 Why is that? Explain to you why you think that 0:10:00.196 --> 0:10:02.396 testimony would have been so powerful for the jury. 0:10:02.956 --> 0:10:08.876 A couple of reasons. Number one, in terms of POI 0:10:09.916 --> 0:10:16.476 and speaking, she had such authenticity about her. I know 0:10:16.516 --> 0:10:19.156 that authenticity is like a cliche these days, but she 0:10:19.956 --> 0:10:24.476 came across very well as a witness Number one. Number two. 0:10:25.316 --> 0:10:31.436 The government amazingly change after her testimony. Never changed their 0:10:31.476 --> 0:10:32.516 theory of the case. 0:10:32.916 --> 0:10:33.076 Ah. 0:10:33.196 --> 0:10:37.876 Yes, the theory of the case, the explanation given for 0:10:37.916 --> 0:10:41.036 the nature of the crime. The government laid out their 0:10:41.036 --> 0:10:45.196 plan of attack with their very first witness, Timothy Donovan. 0:10:45.836 --> 0:10:48.556 Remember him from the Boozy Dinner at the Capitol Grill. 0:10:49.156 --> 0:10:51.476 He played on the Brown tennis team way back when 0:10:51.756 --> 0:10:55.316 with Amon Curry and Gordy Ernst. He ran and still 0:10:55.396 --> 0:10:59.156 runs by the way an outfit called Donovan Tennis Strategies, 0:10:59.436 --> 0:11:02.836 whose goal, according to its website, is to help parents 0:11:02.876 --> 0:11:09.876 with quote successfully navigating the college recruiting process end quote. 0:11:09.996 --> 0:11:13.636 Donovan helps tennis players avail themselves of the back door 0:11:13.996 --> 0:11:18.516 that elite colleges reserve for tennis players. In the Cory case, 0:11:18.836 --> 0:11:21.596 that meant he was the bagman who picked up the 0:11:21.636 --> 0:11:25.476 money for Aymond Coury, got twenty k for himself and 0:11:25.516 --> 0:11:29.276 delivered the brown paper bag to Gordie Ernst's wife. The 0:11:29.316 --> 0:11:33.676 government gave immunity to Timothy Donovan, and Donovan in return 0:11:33.956 --> 0:11:37.876 provided them with their theory of the case. Listen to 0:11:37.916 --> 0:11:41.956 this excerpt from Donovan's testimony on day two of the trial. 0:11:42.556 --> 0:11:45.556 He's being questioned by one of the prosecutors. 0:11:45.836 --> 0:11:47.756 Did there come a time when you discussed with the 0:11:47.756 --> 0:11:51.356 defendant whether Catherine would in fact play on the Georgetown 0:11:51.436 --> 0:11:55.596 tennis team. Yes, what did you discuss about that? 0:11:57.276 --> 0:11:59.716 He said that she didn't have any plans to play 0:11:59.956 --> 0:12:02.076 in that as a matter of fact, that you know, 0:12:02.436 --> 0:12:05.716 her old shoulder injury would kick in and she'd be 0:12:05.996 --> 0:12:07.596 unable to play for that reason. 0:12:08.556 --> 0:12:12.396 And based on how the defendant described Catherine's old shoulder injury, 0:12:13.276 --> 0:12:17.116 what was your understanding as to the nature of that injury. 0:12:17.396 --> 0:12:20.236 That was not legitimate, that it was a story that 0:12:20.276 --> 0:12:21.836 would allow her to not play. 0:12:22.836 --> 0:12:27.316 The prosecution painted a picture of a conspiracy, Gordy Ernst, 0:12:27.636 --> 0:12:32.636 Timothy Donovan, and Amon Curry conspiring to deceive Georgetown into 0:12:32.676 --> 0:12:35.956 thinking they were getting a real tennis player. And what's more, 0:12:36.196 --> 0:12:39.836 Amon Curry and his daughter Catherine conspiring to fake an 0:12:39.916 --> 0:12:43.276 injury so she would never have to reveal how unworthy 0:12:43.356 --> 0:12:46.636 she actually was of playing tennis at Georgetown University. 0:12:47.116 --> 0:12:50.956 So when the daughter gets to the school as a 0:12:51.076 --> 0:12:55.156 tennis admission, she then doesn't play tennis. 0:12:55.596 --> 0:12:58.636 This is Jackie Purchek, one of the Black Shrebnik partners 0:12:58.796 --> 0:12:59.876 who worked on the case. 0:13:00.276 --> 0:13:04.236 She doesn't go to practice and never practices with the team, 0:13:04.276 --> 0:13:07.156 and never play tennis. And so the government fed off 0:13:07.196 --> 0:13:10.676 of that to come up with this theory that she 0:13:10.876 --> 0:13:15.516 knew all along that this was paid for admission, because 0:13:15.516 --> 0:13:17.996 otherwise she would have shown up to play tennis. 0:13:18.436 --> 0:13:22.076 This was the theory on which the prosecution based its case, 0:13:22.556 --> 0:13:25.716 and it came gift wrapped and tied with a bow 0:13:26.236 --> 0:13:29.236 from Timothy Donovan. Why would they advance the theory about 0:13:29.236 --> 0:13:31.236 the daughter having never talked spoken to. 0:13:31.236 --> 0:13:33.716 The daughter because they had the fact that she never 0:13:33.796 --> 0:13:36.196 as Jackie just said, she never went to play tennis, 0:13:36.196 --> 0:13:39.276 So they just assumed. See what I think what happened 0:13:39.676 --> 0:13:43.716 with the case is that remember they have a slam 0:13:43.796 --> 0:13:47.516 dunk all along, you know, fifty five or fifty six cases, 0:13:47.556 --> 0:13:49.876 how many They didn't think that this was going to 0:13:49.956 --> 0:13:52.556 be a problem at all. They thought the client was 0:13:52.556 --> 0:13:54.996 going to plead guilty to begin with, and then then 0:13:55.036 --> 0:13:57.116 he didn't. Then I guess they got ready for Troyal. 0:13:57.356 --> 0:14:00.716 I don't think they took it that serious. 0:14:02.036 --> 0:14:05.036 I don't think they took it that serious. On some 0:14:05.196 --> 0:14:08.996 unconscious level. I think Howard and Roy were offended by this. 0:14:09.996 --> 0:14:14.196 It was a slight People from Miami take particular umbrage 0:14:14.396 --> 0:14:17.556 at the condescension of fancy lawyers from Boston with their 0:14:17.636 --> 0:14:22.916 high falutint manner and Ivyley pedigrees. Thus the dramatic sidebar 0:14:23.316 --> 0:14:26.596 when the stiletto that they had brandished during the Georgetown 0:14:26.596 --> 0:14:32.276 massacre was inserted a little deeper. We have Catherine Coury, 0:14:32.596 --> 0:14:35.196 the person you didn't think belonged to her, and we 0:14:35.276 --> 0:14:38.476 have her text messages which you somehow didn't think were 0:14:38.516 --> 0:14:42.916 going to be an issue. Then a long pause when 0:14:42.916 --> 0:14:47.516 the news registers with the prosecution, a sharp intake of breath, 0:14:47.916 --> 0:15:10.236 and a silent scream that echoes across the courtroom full 0:15:10.356 --> 0:15:14.196 The direct examination of Katy Curry was conducted by Howard, 0:15:14.796 --> 0:15:18.396 not by Roy, which makes sense. Roy is, as I've said, 0:15:18.756 --> 0:15:22.236 an apex legal predator. You don't let the grizzly bear 0:15:22.516 --> 0:15:28.596 play with your grandkids. This one was Howard's responsibility. Howard 0:15:28.956 --> 0:15:32.276 is not just the intellectual half of Black Shrebnik. He 0:15:32.396 --> 0:15:35.276 is the warm and fuzzy half. Howard is the one 0:15:35.516 --> 0:15:38.436 most likely to dress as Santa at the Black Shrebnik 0:15:38.516 --> 0:15:42.116 Christmas Party. Howard has a daughter of his own, whom 0:15:42.236 --> 0:15:45.516 I'm quite sure has Howard wrapped around her little finger. 0:15:46.676 --> 0:15:50.396 Katy Curry was twenty five at the time, tall, long 0:15:50.436 --> 0:15:54.516 brown hair, generous smile when she's smiling, but she's nervous 0:15:54.516 --> 0:15:57.556 when she emerges from the bathroom. She clearly does not 0:15:57.676 --> 0:16:00.156 want to be there. The adults in her life have 0:16:00.276 --> 0:16:02.076 made a dreadful mess of things. 0:16:02.676 --> 0:16:05.356 The momentum continued to build when the daughter gets on 0:16:05.396 --> 0:16:08.156 the witness stand, the government having married itself to a 0:16:08.236 --> 0:16:11.716 theory that a daughter was a fraud, essentially that her 0:16:11.756 --> 0:16:13.396 application was a fraud. 0:16:14.316 --> 0:16:18.476 Howard starts quietly and calmly, tell us how old you are? 0:16:19.276 --> 0:16:22.596 Easy questions to answer, where do you work? You went 0:16:22.636 --> 0:16:27.796 to graduate school? Where only when she seems comfortable does 0:16:27.796 --> 0:16:30.396 he get to the heart of the matter. Once again, 0:16:30.716 --> 0:16:33.716 we've asked our voice actors to read from the transcript. 0:16:35.036 --> 0:16:38.636 Okay, Catherine, growing up, did you play tennis? 0:16:40.076 --> 0:16:42.276 I did yes, okay? 0:16:43.036 --> 0:16:44.556 And who taught you how to play tennis? 0:16:45.556 --> 0:16:46.116 My dad? 0:16:47.396 --> 0:16:50.196 And how old were you when you learned to play tennis? 0:16:51.356 --> 0:16:54.676 Oh, I want to say I was maybe about five 0:16:54.956 --> 0:16:55.716 six years old. 0:16:56.876 --> 0:17:00.116 Her voice is soft. At one point, the judge tells 0:17:00.116 --> 0:17:01.196 her to speak up. 0:17:02.956 --> 0:17:05.956 Okay, And your dad, when you said you would play 0:17:06.036 --> 0:17:08.716 tennis with your dad, was it just hitting the balls 0:17:08.796 --> 0:17:12.356 or was there anything more instructive about the relationship, the 0:17:12.436 --> 0:17:14.196 tennis relationship with your dad? 0:17:16.236 --> 0:17:20.276 Well, so, yeah, my dad is an amazing tennis player. 0:17:20.676 --> 0:17:23.756 He did play at Brown and so I guess in 0:17:23.796 --> 0:17:26.956 a way we had not only a father daughter relationship, 0:17:26.956 --> 0:17:29.596 but in a lot of ways. He was my primary coach. 0:17:30.036 --> 0:17:32.636 I mean he would help me with drills, techniques, my 0:17:32.756 --> 0:17:35.876 serve which was the weakest part of my game, set 0:17:35.916 --> 0:17:39.196 up cones around the tennis court, and try to boost 0:17:39.276 --> 0:17:43.636 my tennis skills. So it was something he enjoyed and 0:17:44.636 --> 0:17:47.676 also something he encouraged me to work hard on. 0:17:49.356 --> 0:17:51.836 How passionate was he about playing tennis with you? 0:17:53.796 --> 0:17:57.116 I think it was one of our favorite things we 0:17:57.156 --> 0:17:57.676 did together. 0:17:58.356 --> 0:18:01.476 Howard pauses and has one of his paralegals put up 0:18:01.516 --> 0:18:05.076 a photo on the screen. It's Catherine and her father 0:18:05.596 --> 0:18:08.596 side by side at the tennis court at their country club. 0:18:10.196 --> 0:18:12.836 Of all the people on the planet Earth, who is 0:18:12.876 --> 0:18:16.076 the person with whom you played most hours of tennis 0:18:16.116 --> 0:18:17.036 in your lifetime? 0:18:18.116 --> 0:18:18.596 My dad. 0:18:20.316 --> 0:18:23.116 They talked about high school. She went to a very 0:18:23.116 --> 0:18:27.316 small private school in Massachusetts. Eight players on the tennis team. 0:18:27.676 --> 0:18:31.556 She was number six, mostly played doubles. Her grades were good, 0:18:31.916 --> 0:18:34.796 not great. Then they get to the subject of college. 0:18:35.396 --> 0:18:39.596 What did she want to go Boston College or Northeastern? 0:18:39.916 --> 0:18:43.076 Did she think she would play tennis at those schools? No? 0:18:43.716 --> 0:18:48.076 What about Georgetown? Well, she'd never thought about Georgetown until 0:18:48.116 --> 0:18:50.916 she ran into Gordy Ernst at a July fourth party. 0:18:52.236 --> 0:18:56.076 I mean he basically said, you know, I'm Gordy Ernst, 0:18:56.076 --> 0:18:58.396 a friend of your dad's, and I'm a tennis coach 0:18:58.476 --> 0:19:02.156 at Georgetown, and you know you should like have you 0:19:02.276 --> 0:19:05.876 ever thought about playing tennis at Georgetown? It could be fun? 0:19:06.836 --> 0:19:07.756 And what did you tell them? 0:19:08.716 --> 0:19:08.956 Said? 0:19:09.236 --> 0:19:12.676 Wow, that sounds amazing. No, we'd love that, but I 0:19:12.716 --> 0:19:15.556 don't think I'm good enough. 0:19:16.116 --> 0:19:17.876 And what did he say? 0:19:17.916 --> 0:19:21.436 He said, Well, you know, train hard and maybe you could. 0:19:23.156 --> 0:19:25.796 She began playing more tennis. She began to take her 0:19:25.796 --> 0:19:30.036 tennis more seriously, she got excited. The idea was that 0:19:30.076 --> 0:19:32.596 she would practice with the team, but red shirt for 0:19:32.596 --> 0:19:36.116 a year. She got an acceptance letter from Georgetown. Howard 0:19:36.116 --> 0:19:38.396 put it on the screen for all the court to see. 0:19:38.756 --> 0:19:41.316 She was in. She thought it was all her doing, 0:19:41.596 --> 0:19:45.156 her talent and hard work. The back and forth between 0:19:45.196 --> 0:19:50.316 Howard and Catherine is building slowly. Everyone on the jury 0:19:50.596 --> 0:19:53.596 must know something is about to happen, but they don't 0:19:53.636 --> 0:19:56.756 know what it is. And Howard is in no hurry 0:19:56.796 --> 0:20:00.196 to tell them. He's just content to let her talk 0:20:00.676 --> 0:20:04.556 and let her credibility, her authenticity, sink in. 0:20:05.796 --> 0:20:10.356 And then finally, I want to talk to you now 0:20:10.396 --> 0:20:14.596 about some of your family circumstances that arose in May 0:20:14.636 --> 0:20:19.156 of twenty fifteen, this after you've been accepted at Georgetown. 0:20:19.636 --> 0:20:25.316 Do you know what time period I'm talking about? During 0:20:25.356 --> 0:20:27.756 the months of April. In the first week of May, 0:20:27.876 --> 0:20:32.836 your parents, Melanie and Amon, did you understand them to 0:20:32.996 --> 0:20:35.156 be still married and living as a family. 0:20:36.716 --> 0:20:40.236 I did until like the second week of May. 0:20:42.036 --> 0:20:44.116 Tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury what you 0:20:44.276 --> 0:20:45.916 learned in the second week of May. 0:20:48.196 --> 0:20:51.716 So in the second week of May, I was actually 0:20:51.756 --> 0:20:54.356 in a tennis match. I believe it was a match 0:20:54.396 --> 0:20:57.676 and not a practice. My mom had flown from Florida 0:20:57.716 --> 0:21:01.436 to Middlesex, which wasn't uncommon. She liked to visit us 0:21:01.476 --> 0:21:06.316 a lot. But you know, I could tell that something was. 0:21:06.276 --> 0:21:10.076 Wrong up until that moment moment in time, did you 0:21:10.156 --> 0:21:12.596 have any idea that your parents were divorcing? 0:21:13.356 --> 0:21:13.436 No? 0:21:13.956 --> 0:21:16.396 How did it affect your feelings towards your father? 0:21:17.556 --> 0:21:20.596 I was really very angry with him for that decision 0:21:20.676 --> 0:21:23.916 to leave the marriage. 0:21:24.556 --> 0:21:26.876 And how did you express yourself to your dad. 0:21:27.836 --> 0:21:31.996 With tears and anger and some mean words. I had 0:21:32.596 --> 0:21:35.596 lost respect for him at that moment in time and 0:21:35.876 --> 0:21:40.356 was Yeah, I felt I felt betrayed. 0:21:41.436 --> 0:21:42.796 How was your mom handling it? 0:21:44.396 --> 0:21:47.036 She was not handling it well at all. She was 0:21:47.356 --> 0:21:52.676 you know, it broke her, for lack of a better word. 0:21:53.916 --> 0:21:56.716 And then Howard puts the text messages Catherine said to 0:21:56.756 --> 0:21:59.396 her dad up on a big screen for the whole 0:21:59.436 --> 0:22:00.756 court to see. 0:22:01.036 --> 0:22:04.596 I made tent you described your dad to directly to 0:22:04.716 --> 0:22:09.436 him that he's pathetic, yes, and hoping there will be 0:22:09.436 --> 0:22:11.396 a day when he'll be strong again. 0:22:12.636 --> 0:22:13.116 Yeah. 0:22:14.196 --> 0:22:19.316 Next page, Keith. This is two days later, on May twelfth, 0:22:19.316 --> 0:22:22.556 you write to him. I wasn't the one who traded 0:22:22.556 --> 0:22:25.716 our family for the feelings of being young again. You're 0:22:25.756 --> 0:22:30.316 a grown man. Don't equate my actions with yours. Just 0:22:30.356 --> 0:22:33.596 from that statement, it's a parent how selfish you are? 0:22:35.836 --> 0:22:36.196 Yes? 0:22:37.876 --> 0:22:39.276 Is that how you felt at the time? 0:22:39.596 --> 0:22:39.876 Yes? 0:22:40.956 --> 0:22:47.236 Had you ever felt that way about your father before? No, Keith, 0:22:47.636 --> 0:22:50.396 go to the next page. Do you recall your dad 0:22:50.436 --> 0:22:54.116 trying to explain himself in you telling him you have 0:22:54.196 --> 0:23:01.836 not done anything wrong? Lol? Laugh out loud. Yeah, next 0:23:01.876 --> 0:23:05.316 page you tell your daddy's clueless and you have no 0:23:05.396 --> 0:23:11.676 interest in associating with him. Is that right? It's correct, Keith. 0:23:11.676 --> 0:23:13.316 If we could go to the next page. 0:23:13.956 --> 0:23:17.356 At which point the judge interjects how many pages is this? 0:23:18.356 --> 0:23:23.956 And Howard says fifteen more. The judge says fifteen more, Yes, 0:23:24.036 --> 0:23:29.436 your honor, fifteen pages, and when it ends, Catherine Cory 0:23:29.476 --> 0:23:32.876 explains where her anger left her. 0:23:33.396 --> 0:23:37.836 Well, you know, Tennis was something that my dad and 0:23:37.916 --> 0:23:42.676 I shared. When I thought of Tennis, I thought of 0:23:42.716 --> 0:23:45.836 my dad and I wanted nothing to do with him. 0:23:45.916 --> 0:23:51.876 At that point, I was disgusted and hurt, and I 0:23:51.996 --> 0:23:56.876 was basically like, you know, screw it. I feel like 0:23:56.956 --> 0:24:00.036 you've ruined the sport for me. I think of you 0:24:00.156 --> 0:24:03.316 when I'm out there, and I'm not going to follow. 0:24:03.476 --> 0:24:06.396 You know, we keep on following your leads and everything 0:24:06.436 --> 0:24:09.796 when you don't set good examples. To be honest, it 0:24:09.876 --> 0:24:14.596 was just too painful to be out there with those reminders. 0:24:16.116 --> 0:24:19.556 So when she got to Georgetown, she didn't join the 0:24:19.596 --> 0:24:24.196 tennis team. She didn't play the sports she loved. And 0:24:24.236 --> 0:24:27.636 it had nothing to do with her shoulder. It had 0:24:27.676 --> 0:24:28.476 to do with her heart. 0:24:31.156 --> 0:24:35.116 When was the last time you played competitive tennis? 0:24:35.396 --> 0:24:38.036 May like right before? 0:24:39.836 --> 0:24:43.436 And did you have you ever since played tennis? 0:24:44.996 --> 0:24:45.076 Not? 0:24:45.236 --> 0:24:49.516 Really? Maybe one day I want to love the sport again, 0:24:50.356 --> 0:24:53.436 you know, like I don't want to just I used 0:24:53.436 --> 0:24:57.236 to love it. And you know, one day, when hopefully 0:24:57.236 --> 0:25:01.956 we've found peace and a stable, you know, familial unit, 0:25:03.476 --> 0:25:06.916 I will be able to be at peace with, you know, 0:25:07.196 --> 0:25:11.836 playing the sport that reminds me of my dad, that 0:25:11.916 --> 0:25:14.836 does hold so many good memories again. 0:25:18.556 --> 0:25:21.836 The lawyers for the US Attorney's Office called Katie Coury 0:25:21.956 --> 0:25:27.476 a mediocre tennis player when Georgetown's specialty was mediocre tennis players. 0:25:27.716 --> 0:25:30.796 They said she got into Georgetown because her dad was rich, 0:25:31.236 --> 0:25:34.836 but recruiting rich kids for the Georgetown tennis team was 0:25:34.876 --> 0:25:38.596 what Georgetown did as a matter of course. And then 0:25:39.076 --> 0:25:42.276 they threw her under the bus a third time. They 0:25:42.316 --> 0:25:44.996 said that she had been involved in a conspiracy with 0:25:45.076 --> 0:25:52.116 her father to fake an injury, and that just wasn't true. 0:25:53.476 --> 0:25:56.076 Back at the top of episode one, I said that 0:25:56.156 --> 0:25:58.636 I asked the US Attorney's office to talk to me 0:25:58.676 --> 0:26:02.556