"False!" Marlene sputtered. "The charges were dropped because the evidence in the case mysteriously disappeared and the victim for some reason left town in the middle of the night. I'd hardly call that false even if the charges had to be dropped."
Meyers nodded. "I essentially said the same thing…or started to when Judge Figa brought the gavel down and told me I'd get to speak later but I was to refrain from making any more statements while Zusskin and Larkin were trotting around the ring… Well, he didn't put it exactly like that, but you get my drift."
"What did you say to that?" Karp asked.
"Oh, just, 'Fine, your honor, I'll wait for my chance to cross-examine the witness.'"
Karp chuckled. "Bet that went over well."
"Yeah, like a match in a fireworks factory," Meyers said with a grin. "I got an angry glare from the judge, and some nervous glances from the rest of the panel and Huttington. Barnhill was shooting daggers with his eyes, but Zusskin just smiled and went on with the show."
Following Zusskin's lead, Larkin told the panel that he'd interviewed the two recruits in question. "Then he handed out a nine-page transcript."
"Nine pages?" Karp said, furrowing his brow. "Obviously, men of few words. Or are you indicating that this was a somewhat truncated version of a transcript?" The smell of rat from the night before had returned even stronger.
"Yeah," Meyers replied, "for what was supposedly a couple of hours' worth of interviews. But when I complained that the transcript was incomplete, Zusskin said that for the purposes of the hearing, it wasn't necessary to present the entire transcript-only those statements made by the recruits that had bearing on whether Mikey knew about the party and paid for booze and strippers. Oh, and whether he asked the recruits not to cooperate with the ACAA investigation and to lie if questioned. I, of course, asked for the entire transcript and a copy of the tape recording of the interviews. But Figa gaveled me again and told me that the hearing would go forward according to the rules and regulations of the ACAA."
When he finished with the transcript, Zusskin wrapped up his presentation by submitting for the panel's examination his "hard evidence," a telephone record showing that a call had been placed from O'Toole's office to the Pink Pussycat Escort Service on the evening in question and a receipt for five hundred dollars paid to the escort service using O'Toole's university credit card.
"Then the judge asked if there was anything Mikey wanted to say in his defense," Meyers explained.
"Wait until you hear Richie's reply," O'Toole interjected. "He was awesome."
"Not really," Meyers replied. "To be honest, I felt a little over-matched. I'd never dealt with anything like this and had no idea what our rights were."
"Come on, it was a great speech about my right to confront the witnesses against me," O'Toole insisted. "He stood up and said, 'Before this goes any further, I'd like the panel to produce the witnesses so that I can cross-examine them. We'd also like to call our own witnesses and present evidence.' But the judge interrupted and, like he was talking to a naughty schoolkid, said, 'Mr. Meyers, this is a private organization with its own rules for conducting hearings.' Only Richie didn't back down and shot back, 'But how can you reach an honest and independent conclusion if you're the ones who brought the charges?' I don't think the judge was used to being challenged. His face got all red and he told Richie that the ACAA would conduct its hearings according to its rules and that if I wanted to make a statement I should do so before he adjourned so that the panel could deliberate."
"Well, my arguments didn't do you much good," Meyers pointed out, blushing slightly from the praise. "But yeah, Figa as much as said the Constitution be damned. So Mikey got up, told the truth about what happened, and sat down. Anybody with a brain would have seen that he was being honest, but I could tell just looking at the panel that it didn't matter, they'd already made up their minds."
In fact, it had taken the panel all of an hour of closed-door deliberations to return with their verdict. "Figa announced that there was enough evidence to conclude that Coach Mikey O'Toole violated ACAA rules governing recruiting practices and that such violations placed a stain on the integrity of his university and the American Collegiate Athletic Association," Meyers recalled.
"I couldn't believe it," O'Toole said quietly. "It was like my brother's case all over again. They said I was suspended from coaching at the collegiate level for a period of ten years. It pretty much meant the end of my coaching career-at least at the college level; no one will hire me again, even if I could wait ten years."
"We immediately asked Huttington for a public name-clearing hearing at the university," Meyers said. "It was the only chance Mikey had to get his side out to the public. But Huttington put on this long face and said he was sorry, but it wouldn't be in the best interest of the university."
"They fired me the next day," O'Toole said.
"So you filed a lawsuit in federal court?" Karp asked.
Both men nodded. "Yeah, I did some research and thought we might make a case for a Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest violation," Meyers said.
"Very good," Karp said, genuinely impressed.
"I don't get it," Marlene said, looking puzzled. "I know it's been a while since I've practiced, but how is this a liberty interest case? He wasn't charged with a crime; no one is threatening to deprive him of his liberty."
Recalling his conversation on that very topic a month earlier with the Breakfast Club, Karp looked at Meyers. "Care to explain?"
"Sure, I'll take a crack at it," the young attorney replied. "Marlene, the courts have repeatedly held that the constitutional guarantees first stated in the Declaration of Independence to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness include the right of Americans to pursue their chosen profession. Mikey O'Toole's chosen profession is coaching baseball at the collegiate level. Yet, the panel took away that liberty without so much as a nod to the concept of due process. And the public university that fired him denied Mikey a name-clearing hearing, published the false and defamatory charges, and in so doing stigmatized him, which will prevent Mikey from coaching again at the collegiate and probably high school level. How's that, Butch?"
"Well put," Karp replied. "I tried one of these myself during a foray into private practice a few years back on behalf of the city's chief medical examiner. Jury bought into it and it resulted in a hefty check for the CME." He looked from one of the men to the other and smiled. "I have to say that you probably wasted your time and money coming here-not that we haven't enjoyed your company. But I think you're right on track and that, Mikey, you have a fine attorney representing you. I can't think of anything to add, though I'll mull this over, and if anything comes up that might help, I'll call. But the main point is that you don't need me."
O'Toole and Meyers gave each other the same funny look that Karp had noticed the night before. "But that's just it, Mr. Karp," Meyers said, choosing his words carefully. "I think I do need your help. I've never tried a case in federal court, or picked a jury for anything more complex than a burglary trial or a property dispute. Zusskin has twenty years of trials on me, and he'll have help from whomever the university uses as its attorney, plus the resources of the ACAA and the university."
Meyers stood and faced the picture window, looking out at the lights of Lower Manhattan, and then turned back to Karp. "I'll be honest, my friend's whole future is on the line here, and I'm scared to death that I'll mess this up-not from a lack of effort, but a lack of experience. I'm asking you to please consider being lead counsel; I'd count myself honored to sit second chair."
Karp sat stunned by the emotional appeal. "I'm the one who's honored by the request," he said. "But you'll be fine. You've done the groundwork; keep it up and you'll take it to these guys. I'm the district attorney of New York, and I'm not really free, nor am I sure it's proper for me to take on a civil case in Idaho, no matter how I feel about your client."