Page 135 of The First Gentleman

I see a couple of the men on the jury nodding.

“So much so that you tore your quadriceps tendon and patellar tendon playing it, correct?”

“Among other injuries, yes.”

The stoic wounded warrior. It’s a good image for Cole, and Hardy knows it.

“Mr. Wright, you sat here in court a day ago when Mr. Bastinelli showed a photograph of you at the Patriots facility in Foxborough, correct?”

“Oh, yes, I remember.”

Perfect delivery. Sincere. Regretful.

“And you heard testimony from Mr. Donovan, the photographer, that the person in the photograph you appear to be choking was an assistant equipment manager named Timmy Gervin.”

“Yes, that was Timmy. And no, I wasn’t choking him.”

“Thank you for the clarification. Now, Mr. Wright, I’m going to put up that picture again. And I’d like you to explain to the jury in your own words what everybody in this courtroom is probably asking themselves: What in heaven’s name was going on?”

She clicks the controller and the photo appears on the screen.

Bold move. Instead of working to erase that image from the jury’s mind, she’s emphasizing it.

Cole doesn’t need to look at the screen. He turns directly to the jury box. Hardy must have told him to make direct eye contact.Act like you have nothing to hide.

“That picture was taken at night after a practice,” says Cole. “We were leaving the next day for a Sunday game against the Atlanta Falcons. They’d beaten us badly the last time we played them, and it was getting close to the playoffs, so we were fired up—the whole team. We wanted revenge, payback. That was our mood.”

“And what would a cheerleader have to do with that?”

Cole looks at Hardy, then turns right back to the jury. “Well, the head cheerleader of the Falcons at the time was a young woman named Lucy Carson. She was also the niece of the owner of the Falcons. A couple days earlier, she had appeared on a morning sports show talking smack about the Pats and how she expected us to choke—”

Hardy interrupts. “Can you explain whatchokein this context would mean?”

“To an athlete,chokingmeans getting nervous, making mistakes, blowing opportunities, and so forth.”

“And do professional cheerleaders typically criticize opposing teams?”

“No, not usually,” says Cole. “But in Lucy’s case, maybe because she was related to the owner, she engaged in a lot of trash talk.”

“And was the whole team aware of Ms. Carson’s comments?”

“Definitely. We all talked about it during practice that day. It gave us an extra… incentive.”

“And what happened after practice, when you went to the training area of Gillette Stadium?”

“The first thing we saw was Timmy dressed up in a cheerleader outfit and a wig. You can’t see it, but there’s a big Falcons logo taped to his chest.”

“What was your reaction?”

“Everyone thought it was hysterical.”

“Did you know who Mr. Gervin was trying to portray?”

“Yes. I assumed that he’d overheard us talking about Lucy Carson, so he dressed up as a Falcons cheerleader to make fun of her.”

“And what did you do next, Mr. Wright?”

“I walked over and made a show of putting my hands around Timmy’s neck, just to make the other guys laugh.”

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