by Stop Mike Lupica on September 25 at 10:20AM
Starting where we left off:
Karen Buchholz, Anucha Sanders right hand employee and former friend, is testifying on behalf of the Garden. She's about to get cross-examined.
The Cross:
Four people (4!) were hired into the department despite lack of qualifications... purely on nepotism. 2 are because of James Dolan (including his fired future son-in-law Vernon Manuel), and two are because of Marbury (including his fired cousin, Hassan Gonsalves). Vernon Manuel was fired because Karen herself had difficult with him - he screamed at her, his behavior was "hostile", and she thought he should be fired.
Next the plaintiff's lawyers work on the Hassan angle... "Did he ever say 'I want to stick it in you?". No. But where to put that out there for the jury to hear.
I think the White Bald Guy is on his cell phone now. Or he seems to be having a conversation with himself. He's the most entertaining thing about this trial.
The courtroom is filled up now, to the brim. People are standing in the back. There are three suited people to my left, including one female, and two guys. The guy next to me is like 6'5... he must be Alan Hahn from Newsday. On the real, it's funny that in a case where a former basketball player is suing another former basketball player, the three tallest people in the courtroom are in the back row - Mr. 6'5, the other guy with him is like 6'3, and I'm almost 6'2.
The plaintiff's lawyer (not the same guy from before, a female this time... I think they go guy-on-guy, girl-on-girl when questioning witnesses) is asking a lot of hard-to-follow questions. That's not good.
Ah, here's a good response from Karen: "That's what I was told by Anucha to be concerned about, on the way to your offices" "Your offices" meaning the plaintiff's lawyers' office, since Karen recommended these very same lawyers to Anucha. Small world!
Even the sketch artist is bored... she's now sketching the back of the court room. Or me.
The lawyer bombs trying to get her to talk about why she (Karen) called them. "Anucha asked me to call!". The lawyers try to subtly imply that's not we should told them, and the defense lawyers object, citing attorney-client privilege. The judge agrees, and tells Karen that she doesn't have to talk about whatever conversations she had with these same lawyers.
Of the four nepotistic hires, one turned out to be very successful.
Karen testifies that Anucha did not want to hire The Intern (Kathleen Decker, since it's now in the front page of every local newspaper) to a full time position.
The Packed Courthouse:
The packed crowd includes all sorts of people... a couple of reporters. That weird woman with the binocular glasses on in the front room. A few casual observers. Anucha's family in one row - they resemble Anucha, so I assume they are family members. The three suited people next to me, with only one taking notes. A couple of student newspaper writers - they are easy to identify.
The cross exam ends with the plaintiff's lawyers pointedly asking the irrelevant question "Did you want any of Anucha's job duties?" Objection... sustained. "Did you inherit any of Anucha's job responsibilities after she was fired?" Objection, irrelevant. Sustained... beyond the scope of the trial, Judge Lynch states.
Never the less, it's a great way to impression the jury with the idea that maybe Karen Buchholze was happy to get Anucha fired to get a promotion. At the end of the day, that's what this trial is about... making the jury think the other guy is the one lying, not your guy. We've had minimal amount of "evidence" - only two e-mails so far, both of which are fairly innocuous, not really relating directly to the case, but indirectly building up claims made in other parts of the trial. In other words, we've had no real evidence, just lots of he-said, she-said.
The Intern:
The intern is called. She's not the trainee next to Borat... I should have known. The Intern comes from outside the court, and goes to the stand.
She's formally dressed, in a black pants suit and white shirt. Her hair is done today. She's attractive enough - you can go to any local website covering the trial and see a picture of her.
She get into it right away... she's very emotional, ranging from angry when talking about Anucha to tearful.
Anucha made her "very uncomfortable"... "she yelled at me". She recounts a couple of the times Anucha yelled at her. One was supposedly after she disappeared for an hour while getting press credentials printed. She claims she told three people in the office where she was, but Anucha still flipped out on her. It's petty, but at the same time it's believable.
Another time Karen was suppose to have a lunch meeting with Anucha. Kathleen, no longer the intern, at this point now a full-time assistant to Karen (hired despite Anucha's stated disapproval), was asked to call Anucha and tell her Karen couldn't make the meeting because she was sick. She called Anucha's office, but she had left already. So she called Anucha's cell phone, and left a message. Apparently Anucha did not check her message, and when she got back to the office she blasted Kathleen. Kathleen seemed tearful (or very somber) recounting the story. "She made me feel inferior". Not relevant, the judge points out (how she felt). She says that Anucha then apologized the next day when she finally checked her cell phone, but "it wasn't very sincere". Again the judge chides her, reminding her to stick to the facts, and not offer up her opinions or feelings.
Decker is having problems with that, though. She's very emotional during the testimony... clearly she wasn't prepped very well. Maybe it's because no one expected her to testify during this case, and she only got dragged into it by Anucha's testimony.
The Strip Club:
Three coworkers and KD got to a strip club in Mt. Vernon for her birthday after work (around 11ish). They had "no idea" who would be there... turns out it's fellow coworkers Marbury and Hassan Gonsalves. They had a designated driver (one of the four), but she ends up accepting an invitation at the club from Hassan for a ride back to St. John's. When they got outside, she told her friends she'll call them later, and Marbury pulls up and issues his famous "You getting in or not?" line.
Not so salacious anymore, right? But yeah, it seems a tad bit more realistic, too.
Yes, they had sex. "Totally consensus." "Totally in control." "Not drunk." She called her friend 45 to 70 minutes later to confirm that she was home.
Hassan Gonsalves:
She "had a relationship" outside of work with Hassan. After his inappropriate work comment towards her one day, she was asked if she wanted to file a complaint. She didn't. She told HR "she didn't want to file a complaint".
By the way, White Bald Guy is wide awake, smiling every time the intern or lawyer mentions "strip club". In fact, he just smiled back towards White Woman, who is furiously taking notes. We have a trial, folks!
In a meeting with Anucha, soon after she found out about the night in question - the strip club night - she says Anucha kept pressing her for more. "I know there's more. You can tell me." is how KD describes what Anucha said. She added that it was the first time she felt Anucha was being sincere, which the judge again, very business-like, chided her about. Facts, not opinions! If only we could get media coverage like that....
The judge takes a second to explain "the rules of the game" to KD. No more interjecting your feelings into answers. KD is once again very apologetic.
Cross-Exam:
She denies the famous "I felt like I had to" line regarding sex with Marbury. "I never said that". She never said "she regretted that episode."
"I felt I was taken advantage of"... denied.
She does vouch for the text from Marbury soon after the incident, in which he texted "I want some more of that". Confirmed.
The Wild Card:
A-ha! The plaintiff's lawyers spring a surprise. They produce a card that KD sent to Anucha soon after their meeting. The card is Hallmark, and in lovely handwriting (my GF would be proud). The card thanks Anucha for "being supportive and listening". The plaintiff's move to enter it as Exhibit #116 in the case.
"I guess we'll have to add this to the evidence, then." the judge deadpans.
The card states:
This week has been a tough one for all of us and I sincerely apologize for that. You have been incredibly supportive throughout this situation and I appreciate you being so understanding and willing to help. I know that I cannot change the poor decision(s) I've made in the past but I do know that I've learned from this mistake and will not let anything like that happen (ever) again. I need to take control of the things I can and not worry about the things I can't. I will continue working hard by putting in 110% to my job and dedicating myself to you, Karin and the rest of our team. I will do my best to ensure that I help make this organization the best that it can possibly be. I have tried to do this since day one and it will continue, always. Thank you Anucha; for listening, for understanding and for your support.
Two points: One, this card is meant to indicate that she was lying when she said she "didn't regret the episode" - clearly she labels it a mistake here. Or at least, that's the plaintiff's point. They didn't press her on it, probably because she has plenty of room to wiggle out from it if they pressed her (meaning, for example, that she could say she didn't regret sex with Marbury, but the mistake refers to sleeping with co-workers).
Two, the defense attorneys follow-up by asking her why she wrote this note. "Because I was afraid of losing my job", she responds, still a little stunned. She's implying that she was afraid of losing her job because she was sleeping with coworkers, and so wrote this note dedicating herself to the job, stating how hard she's worked in the past, and how hard she will continue to work... she's trying to save her ass from getting fired, in her mind. She knows Anucha doesn't like her, and is afraid she's going to try to get her canned.
The plaintiff finishes KD's testimony with the same questions he's asked every witness for the defense to this point: "Hasn't it always been your dream job to work for the Knicks?" Yes. "Are you still working for the Knicks?" No, the intern responds. "What?!? Where are you working?" "I work for the Garden, for the foundation, but not for the Knicks." A little technicality, but KD's basically trying to undermine the lawyer's questioning.
"Do you wish to continue working there?" Objection... sustained.
Sander's lawyers really want to prove that she's just trying to hold on to her job, as they did with Glossman and Buchholze early.
Anyway, with that the testimony ends. KD leaves the witness stand, and half the crowd leaves with her. The judge calls it a night, at 5:00, and laughs at the media rushing after the intern, deadpanning "They have to go file their stories". As I take off, the crowd sits around waiting for KD to leave, hoping to get to ask some questions (they won't, as Garden security personnel escort her out of the courtroom... she's not Marbury, providing interesting stories as he takes off).
I take off long before all that. Ironically enough, I end up on the elevator with the two student college reporters. They are, no surprise, representing Columbia.
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Karen Buchholz, Anucha Sanders right hand employee and former friend, is testifying on behalf of the Garden. She's about to get cross-examined.
The Cross:
Four people (4!) were hired into the department despite lack of qualifications... purely on nepotism. 2 are because of James Dolan (including his fired future son-in-law Vernon Manuel), and two are because of Marbury (including his fired cousin, Hassan Gonsalves). Vernon Manuel was fired because Karen herself had difficult with him - he screamed at her, his behavior was "hostile", and she thought he should be fired.
Next the plaintiff's lawyers work on the Hassan angle... "Did he ever say 'I want to stick it in you?". No. But where to put that out there for the jury to hear.
I think the White Bald Guy is on his cell phone now. Or he seems to be having a conversation with himself. He's the most entertaining thing about this trial.
The courtroom is filled up now, to the brim. People are standing in the back. There are three suited people to my left, including one female, and two guys. The guy next to me is like 6'5... he must be Alan Hahn from Newsday. On the real, it's funny that in a case where a former basketball player is suing another former basketball player, the three tallest people in the courtroom are in the back row - Mr. 6'5, the other guy with him is like 6'3, and I'm almost 6'2.
The plaintiff's lawyer (not the same guy from before, a female this time... I think they go guy-on-guy, girl-on-girl when questioning witnesses) is asking a lot of hard-to-follow questions. That's not good.
Ah, here's a good response from Karen: "That's what I was told by Anucha to be concerned about, on the way to your offices" "Your offices" meaning the plaintiff's lawyers' office, since Karen recommended these very same lawyers to Anucha. Small world!
Even the sketch artist is bored... she's now sketching the back of the court room. Or me.
The lawyer bombs trying to get her to talk about why she (Karen) called them. "Anucha asked me to call!". The lawyers try to subtly imply that's not we should told them, and the defense lawyers object, citing attorney-client privilege. The judge agrees, and tells Karen that she doesn't have to talk about whatever conversations she had with these same lawyers.
Of the four nepotistic hires, one turned out to be very successful.
Karen testifies that Anucha did not want to hire The Intern (Kathleen Decker, since it's now in the front page of every local newspaper) to a full time position.
The Packed Courthouse:
The packed crowd includes all sorts of people... a couple of reporters. That weird woman with the binocular glasses on in the front room. A few casual observers. Anucha's family in one row - they resemble Anucha, so I assume they are family members. The three suited people next to me, with only one taking notes. A couple of student newspaper writers - they are easy to identify.
The cross exam ends with the plaintiff's lawyers pointedly asking the irrelevant question "Did you want any of Anucha's job duties?" Objection... sustained. "Did you inherit any of Anucha's job responsibilities after she was fired?" Objection, irrelevant. Sustained... beyond the scope of the trial, Judge Lynch states.
Never the less, it's a great way to impression the jury with the idea that maybe Karen Buchholze was happy to get Anucha fired to get a promotion. At the end of the day, that's what this trial is about... making the jury think the other guy is the one lying, not your guy. We've had minimal amount of "evidence" - only two e-mails so far, both of which are fairly innocuous, not really relating directly to the case, but indirectly building up claims made in other parts of the trial. In other words, we've had no real evidence, just lots of he-said, she-said.
The Intern:
The intern is called. She's not the trainee next to Borat... I should have known. The Intern comes from outside the court, and goes to the stand.
She's formally dressed, in a black pants suit and white shirt. Her hair is done today. She's attractive enough - you can go to any local website covering the trial and see a picture of her.
She get into it right away... she's very emotional, ranging from angry when talking about Anucha to tearful.
Anucha made her "very uncomfortable"... "she yelled at me". She recounts a couple of the times Anucha yelled at her. One was supposedly after she disappeared for an hour while getting press credentials printed. She claims she told three people in the office where she was, but Anucha still flipped out on her. It's petty, but at the same time it's believable.
Another time Karen was suppose to have a lunch meeting with Anucha. Kathleen, no longer the intern, at this point now a full-time assistant to Karen (hired despite Anucha's stated disapproval), was asked to call Anucha and tell her Karen couldn't make the meeting because she was sick. She called Anucha's office, but she had left already. So she called Anucha's cell phone, and left a message. Apparently Anucha did not check her message, and when she got back to the office she blasted Kathleen. Kathleen seemed tearful (or very somber) recounting the story. "She made me feel inferior". Not relevant, the judge points out (how she felt). She says that Anucha then apologized the next day when she finally checked her cell phone, but "it wasn't very sincere". Again the judge chides her, reminding her to stick to the facts, and not offer up her opinions or feelings.
Decker is having problems with that, though. She's very emotional during the testimony... clearly she wasn't prepped very well. Maybe it's because no one expected her to testify during this case, and she only got dragged into it by Anucha's testimony.
The Strip Club:
Three coworkers and KD got to a strip club in Mt. Vernon for her birthday after work (around 11ish). They had "no idea" who would be there... turns out it's fellow coworkers Marbury and Hassan Gonsalves. They had a designated driver (one of the four), but she ends up accepting an invitation at the club from Hassan for a ride back to St. John's. When they got outside, she told her friends she'll call them later, and Marbury pulls up and issues his famous "You getting in or not?" line.
Not so salacious anymore, right? But yeah, it seems a tad bit more realistic, too.
Yes, they had sex. "Totally consensus." "Totally in control." "Not drunk." She called her friend 45 to 70 minutes later to confirm that she was home.
Hassan Gonsalves:
She "had a relationship" outside of work with Hassan. After his inappropriate work comment towards her one day, she was asked if she wanted to file a complaint. She didn't. She told HR "she didn't want to file a complaint".
By the way, White Bald Guy is wide awake, smiling every time the intern or lawyer mentions "strip club". In fact, he just smiled back towards White Woman, who is furiously taking notes. We have a trial, folks!
In a meeting with Anucha, soon after she found out about the night in question - the strip club night - she says Anucha kept pressing her for more. "I know there's more. You can tell me." is how KD describes what Anucha said. She added that it was the first time she felt Anucha was being sincere, which the judge again, very business-like, chided her about. Facts, not opinions! If only we could get media coverage like that....
The judge takes a second to explain "the rules of the game" to KD. No more interjecting your feelings into answers. KD is once again very apologetic.
Cross-Exam:
She denies the famous "I felt like I had to" line regarding sex with Marbury. "I never said that". She never said "she regretted that episode."
"I felt I was taken advantage of"... denied.
She does vouch for the text from Marbury soon after the incident, in which he texted "I want some more of that". Confirmed.
The Wild Card:
A-ha! The plaintiff's lawyers spring a surprise. They produce a card that KD sent to Anucha soon after their meeting. The card is Hallmark, and in lovely handwriting (my GF would be proud). The card thanks Anucha for "being supportive and listening". The plaintiff's move to enter it as Exhibit #116 in the case.
"I guess we'll have to add this to the evidence, then." the judge deadpans.
The card states:
This week has been a tough one for all of us and I sincerely apologize for that. You have been incredibly supportive throughout this situation and I appreciate you being so understanding and willing to help. I know that I cannot change the poor decision(s) I've made in the past but I do know that I've learned from this mistake and will not let anything like that happen (ever) again. I need to take control of the things I can and not worry about the things I can't. I will continue working hard by putting in 110% to my job and dedicating myself to you, Karin and the rest of our team. I will do my best to ensure that I help make this organization the best that it can possibly be. I have tried to do this since day one and it will continue, always. Thank you Anucha; for listening, for understanding and for your support.
Two points: One, this card is meant to indicate that she was lying when she said she "didn't regret the episode" - clearly she labels it a mistake here. Or at least, that's the plaintiff's point. They didn't press her on it, probably because she has plenty of room to wiggle out from it if they pressed her (meaning, for example, that she could say she didn't regret sex with Marbury, but the mistake refers to sleeping with co-workers).
Two, the defense attorneys follow-up by asking her why she wrote this note. "Because I was afraid of losing my job", she responds, still a little stunned. She's implying that she was afraid of losing her job because she was sleeping with coworkers, and so wrote this note dedicating herself to the job, stating how hard she's worked in the past, and how hard she will continue to work... she's trying to save her ass from getting fired, in her mind. She knows Anucha doesn't like her, and is afraid she's going to try to get her canned.
The plaintiff finishes KD's testimony with the same questions he's asked every witness for the defense to this point: "Hasn't it always been your dream job to work for the Knicks?" Yes. "Are you still working for the Knicks?" No, the intern responds. "What?!? Where are you working?" "I work for the Garden, for the foundation, but not for the Knicks." A little technicality, but KD's basically trying to undermine the lawyer's questioning.
"Do you wish to continue working there?" Objection... sustained.
Sander's lawyers really want to prove that she's just trying to hold on to her job, as they did with Glossman and Buchholze early.
Anyway, with that the testimony ends. KD leaves the witness stand, and half the crowd leaves with her. The judge calls it a night, at 5:00, and laughs at the media rushing after the intern, deadpanning "They have to go file their stories". As I take off, the crowd sits around waiting for KD to leave, hoping to get to ask some questions (they won't, as Garden security personnel escort her out of the courtroom... she's not Marbury, providing interesting stories as he takes off).
I take off long before all that. Ironically enough, I end up on the elevator with the two student college reporters. They are, no surprise, representing Columbia.
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11 Comments
Comments
Jack Cobra
said
Can you confirm/deny the rumor that she said that when Marbury was playing with her boobs he said, "I love me some Orange Roudie."
stopmikelupica
said
Brian: That's the kind where you tally the population and racial/ethnic breakdown of your sex partners.
Cobra: Um, I don't think he had much time for that. 45 to 75 minutes, while driving from Mt. Vernon to SJU (which takes at least 35-40 minutes)... he's probably skipping the playing with the boobs part, and going straight to it. I'm guessing he wasn't practicing tantric sex that night....
Good Job SML...
So I'm guessing they had a good time in the car... An am I the only one that thinks this whole case is nothing more than a smear campaign again Isiah and the Knicks???
If you watch the Power of 10 episodes she was on (2 and 3), she says some interesting stuff in her Episode 2 intro...I feel bad posting it because it sounds pretty mean, but look it up under cbs.com, part four of the Episode 2 tape, around the 7-8 minute mark.
I had some shit to write SML, but still laughing from the first 3 comments!
stopmikelupica
said
Yeah, Brian got me good on this one. My GF wrote me at work to tell me that I had mispelled a bunch of words (as she always does), but by the time I got the e-mail Brian was already ripping on me!
Maybe this will motivated him to spring for that much needed editor for me...
Please, can you PM me and tell me few more thinks about this, I am really fan of your blog...gets
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Yes, they had sex. "Totally consensus." "Totally in control." "Not drunk." She called her friend 45 to 70 minutes later to confirm that she was home.
Consensus sex is the best kind.