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LOUISVILLE (AP) - After 21 witnesses and seven days of lurid, sometimes sexually graphic testimony in the trial of a woman charged with trying to extort millions from Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, the defense gets its turn Wednesday to make its case.

The question left hanging is whether the defendant, 50-year-old Karen Cunagin Sypher, will testify.

Sypher's attorney, James Earhart, has given no indication about whether his client will speak under oath about the charges that she demanded $10 million, college tuition for her children, and her house to be paid off in exchange for her silence about a July 2003 sexual tryst with Pitino.

Sypher, has pleaded not guilty to extortion, retaliating against a witness and lying to the FBI. She faces prison time if convicted.

Prosecutors spent the last week building their case that Sypher, with finances on the rocks, sought to pull money, cars and a house from Pitino by promising not to publicize their sexual liaison at a Louisville Italian restaurant and call it rape.

Sypher isn't required to testify and if she doesn't take the stand, jurors will be instructed they should not hold the decision against her. Either way, jurors have heard from Sypher over the course of the prosecution's case - in the form of several hours of videotaped interviews with Louisville television stations and the police.

In interviews with WDRB-TV in Louisville and Louisville police, Sypher told a story of how Pitino allegedly raped her after Porcini restaurant cleared out on July 31, 2003.

"It didn't last long. It seemed like hours for me," said Sypher, appearing to cry, although no tears were visible on the video. "All he said was shut up, shut up and be quiet."

Police and prosecutors dismissed the allegation as lacking credibility. And, multiple witnesses have contradicted the stories Sypher told on the videos - differing with her account of what she wore, what time of day the sexual encounter took place and even the weather outside the restaurant.

The star of the prosecution's case was Pitino, who testified before a standing-room only crowd in court for more than five hours over two days, telling jurors he had an "unfortunate" sexual encounter with Sypher and that he felt "sick to my stomach" when the extortion calls started Feb. 26, 2009. Pitino received two calls that day and a third on Feb. 28, 2009.

"I could never rape a woman or be physically harmful to any woman at any time," Pitino said.

Two restaurant patrons told jurors Sypher first approached Pitino that night, forcing her way into his circle of friends and that the two were hitting it off as the night went on. Pitino testified that the sexual encounter lasted 15 seconds.

About four weeks later, Sypher approached Pitino, saying she was pregnant and he was the father, something the coach denied.

"I didn't believe at the time it was my child," Pitino said. "She said she didn't know what she was going to do."

Sypher said she had no health insurance, Pitino said, so he offered $3,000. He thought the money was for counseling and medical needs but Sypher later said she had an abortion, Pitino said. A Pitino aide, Tim Sypher, drove the woman, then known as Karen Wise, to Cincinnati to have the abortion.

The two became romantically involved and married in April 2004. They are now divorced, but locked in a legal battle over custody of their 5-year-old daughter.

Pitino began receiving calls in February 2009, threatening to expose the tryst with Sypher unless he "did the right thing."

Pitino reported the calls to the FBI in early April 2009, leading to Sypher's arrest on April 24, 2009.

Three men have testified to having affairs with Sypher while she was married to a Pitino aide, Tim Sypher. One of those men, Lester Goetziner of Louisville, admitted to making the extortion phone calls and reached a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.


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