Did anyone else find it odd that Steve Pence, a former federal prosecutor whose client is the accused victim of a federal crime, played the “mentally incompetent” card in the Karen Sypher case? Or that the federal prosecutors, old friends of Pence, decided that Sypher needed to undergo some competency tests?
After checking with some attorneys, it’s clear that the bar for getting someone declared mentally incompetent to stand trial is significantly higher than simply being a bimbo trying to use a one-night stand to set herself up financially for life.
One attorney told me there’s no way that U.S. Attorney John Kuhn’s motion for a psychiatric exam will be approved by a federal judge — unless Sypher would agree to it.
When Pence said that “Ms. Sypher is clearly disturbed and incapable of telling the truth” did you think he had something up his sleeve?
Pence’s client doesn’t care whether Sypher is convicted of lying and extortion — he’d just like to see her publicity-seeking self fade into his past before further damaging his reputation. And wouldn’t a ruling by a court-ordered psychiatrist that Sypher’s too cuckoo to stand trial be a first step toward making sure there’s never a trial?
If that unlikely scenario occurred, and Sypher were determined mentally incompetent to stand trial, then the prosecutor would be absolved of prosecuting the case. At least until Sypher were determined competent. Read: FOREVER. The whole thing could conceivably be forgotten. No trial, no more publicity. Sypher gets to avoid jail, Pitino gets to focus on repairng his rep and his basketball team, Pence launches his Mayoral campaign.
Pence may have phoned in a favor to get prosecutors to run this mental competency idea up the flagpole. But unless he’s got some of the same pull with a federal judge, don’t expect it to happen.
It’s common knowledge that Karen Sypher is crazy, all right — crazy like a tarted-up, golddigging, greedy, narcissistic fox from outer space. Which isn’t going to get her a pass from prosecution on a mental competency judgment.
Still, if this strategy works, it would become a landmark in the annals of legal finesse. Sypher looks more pyscho and less credible than anyone ever imagined she could — and best of all, Pitino averts an embarrassing trial guaranteed to explode all over again in the headlines, with New York Post reporters questioning his daughter while taking out the garbage.
For those who want to see the case go away, like Pence, Pitino and Sypher, it makes perfect sense. But it’s not gonna happen.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Mark H (Not Hebert) // Aug 25, 2009 at 10:37 am
I’m not a psychiatrist, but I don’t know anyone who read Sypher’s police statement who didn’t think the woman’s nuts.
That fact that she could have very likely avoided Federal jail time by keeping her mouth shut questions her mental state.
Certainly I wouldn’t put it past Pence calling in a favor. I’m sure Pitino is paying him well for his prosecutorial ties.
Since it appears that a conviction is going to be a slam dunk, you could you also argue that this is a preemptive strike by the prosecutor to blunt her likely appeal on mental grounds?
2 Steve Magruder (I, not D or R) // Aug 25, 2009 at 11:52 am
I would also venture to guess that the local GOP is putting pressure on Pence to somehow wrap up this case in time to run for Mayor.
But then, that begs a question: Why does the local GOP think they can pin all their hopes on Pence? Don’t other well-known, qualified local Republicans want to run? Are they being squeezed out to make way for Pence, who may never become free to do it?
3 AbG // Aug 25, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Rick’s entitled to his opinion, and he’s probably right that the incompetency order won’t be granted, but I’d love to see some better reasoning than “I don’t think it will work.” Yes, the incompetency standard is high in federal court. But it is not so high as to be out of the realm of possibility.
The standard is “if there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense.”
I wouldn’t be so sure that she didn’t or doesn’t understand the proceedings against her or that she’s able to assist in her defense – see “prosecution of fake rape claim” for an example.
4 Steve // Aug 25, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Viewed from a distance, either side could argue reasonably for sanity or insanity. And since I’ll always be at a distance regarding this mucked-up matter, she appears crazy from this vantage point. She looks it and acts it.
That doesn’t make her story unbelievable; given her partner in immorality, her tales are highly plausible. But I suppose I’m old enough to have a pretty good gut sense of people, and the alarm bells went off the first time I saw those wild eyes rolling around in that overly made-up face. Normal people don’t look like or act like that. They don’t use the same facial expressions or manners and tones of speech. She is, at the very least, highly unusual.
Sypher’s looks alone transcend those of the common tart; she genuinely looks nutty and acts it. What sane person would try to pull what she’s pulled?
Now that it’s clear U of L won’t penalize Pitino, to see this thing go away by virtue of an insanity defense would be the best thing that could happen for the community. The town won’t soon forget this miserable episode, but at least it would cease to dominate every headline, newscast and conversation.
5 Steve // Aug 25, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I wonder whether unbridled greed and stupidity constitute “a mental disease of defect.”
No, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Karen Sypher is too batshit crazy to stand trial — just highly dubious.
It will be supremely interesting to see how the defense responds to the motion for a mental evaluation.
Seems like Dr. Freud would be Sypher’s best hope to get a sweet plea.
What a hot mess it would be if Sypher’s lawyer wanted the evaluation but she didn’t.
And if the request were approved, how would her head doctor be selected? Would the prosecution get to pick?
How would Pence avert a trial if this motion fails?
Sypher, with her rape claim, has made it difficult for him to say, “My client doesn’t want to testify, he wants to end this humiliating ordeal, motion to dismiss.”
Is that even a legally feasible option?
I’d like to hear from more legal eagles on this. What does Tom Clay say? Was Sypher merely too crazy for him to continue defending (against his advice, she wouldn’t shut up) — or too crazy to be put in prison too?
6 Not Confused ... // Aug 25, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Having no dog in this fight, beyond the interest of the taxpayers who are ultimately paying for Karen Sypher’s inability to keep neither her thighs nor her lips clamped tight, it does appear that everyone’s (including UofL’s) interest would be best served if this steaming pile of crap is allowed to slip into the sewer, never to be seen or smelled again …
7 Novena // Aug 25, 2009 at 3:18 pm
“Oh My, Such Legal Troubles We Have”
I do think the UofL honchos would love to see Karen’s thighs pressed tightly closed and her lips sealed with bright red super glue. That would be one less whoppper of a trial to worry about. Man, the Belknap PR Dept. would have to work 24/7. There is another 800-lb. gorilla in the Court House waiting area: Flim Flam Felner, the Godzilla of Bed-Stuy. Good luck, Cards.
P.S. When in the hell does his trial begin?
8 slim // Aug 25, 2009 at 9:05 pm
The basic premise of your conjecture is false, i.e., Pence is not popular with the US Attorney’s office and has no juice there. In fact, Sypher’s attorney, Earhart, is far more connected than Pence, a partisan Republican trying to work with committed Democrats. (The head of the criminal division is Earhart’s best friend.)
The motion to evaluate Sypher was filed for one reason: to shut her up. Prosecutors expect Judge Simpson to tell her that no sane person would continue spouting off to the media so, if she continues doing it, he’ll have no choice but to send her off for an evaluation. “Send her off”, you say? That’s right, she would be incarcerated for 90 days or more and sent off to the Federal Medical Center in Butner, N.C. or in Springfield, Mo. Both are ugly, ugly places.
So, again, this was a unilateral move by the government to keep the bitch quiet. Pitino, and Pence had nothing to do with it.
At least, that’s what my lawyer friends tell me.
9 Carter Burger // Aug 26, 2009 at 8:44 am
I thought there already was a gag order on the litigants. Am I mistaken on that point?
10 Dan B. // Aug 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I bet Mark Herbert (yes Herbert) wishes he never left Pimental (yes mental)!
11 slim // Aug 26, 2009 at 8:00 pm
no, there is no gag order. The judge initially entered one but lifted it one week later.
Leave a Comment