Mitch Burke is the father and agent of teenage tennis star Korey Burke, who was assaulted after a game.
Biography[]
Mitch went into competitive tennis, but never made it higher than quarter finals. He vicariously lived his dreams through his daughter Korey, obsessed with her climbing as high as she can and being as talented as she can. Korey was indeed a pro, with a long history of wins in matches, which Mitch essentially made her life, along with promotional deals. He kept her from socializing much and never understood she was depressed from being stuck in a passionless career.
Korey was beaten in the locker room, her wrist broken so badly it would put her out of the fast track and likely stop her career. Mitch was her primary protector during the investigation, but it showed he was more stressed about her losing time to compete. He specifically pointed the detectives to Allison Hall, Korey’s friend and closest training partner who was scheduled to compete with her, as he didn’t believe they cared about each other and assumed Allison was motivated by jealousy.
When Allison was tried, as her boyfriend Mark Kenner hit Korey, it was revealed Korey had several injuries before the attack and she was in counseling. When it was revealed she wanted to quit, Mitch was believed to have arranged the attack to keep the royalties. He protested, saying with Korey's wins, he’d never tank her career. That led the prosecution to suspect Korey herself set up the attack because she struggled to tell her father she was done, which her therapy journal confirmed.
Korey confessed and admitted to Mitch that she knew he loved her success, and she hated to devastate him, but she wanted to have an actual life instead of the pressure she faced. Mitch, realizing his wrongs, insisted she and Allison suffered enough, and the prosecution agreed, having their sentences be probation and community service. (L&O: “Doubles”)