The civil trial unfolded on the Marin County Civic Middle, a nationwide landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the place part of the 1997 sci-fi movie “Gattaca” was filmed. And although Burgos, 58, stays in jail after recently losing an appeal, his presence was inescapable contained in the intimately round courtroom, the place the jury field, witness stand and legal professionals’ tables had been organized in a crescent moon, so individuals may all the time see each other.
One potential juror was excused after saying that years in the past, when he was a scholar and strolling dwelling from college, Burgos tried to lure him into his automobile. Stevie Gould, a former Burgos protégé whose secret recording of the disgraced coach admitting to having intercourse with a minor led to Burgos’s arrest, sat within the gallery twice to help Harrison.
However on the coronary heart of the case was Harrison, now 36, who disclosed that he nonetheless has nightmares and panic assaults, and has seen quite a few medical professionals for remedy.
As a Tamalpais Excessive Faculty scholar, Harrison mentioned he feared reporting Burgos, who was additionally a preferred health club trainer, as a result of he had a lot to lose. But when he went to the police, in faculty, he was mocked and scorned by a group that fiercely believed Burgos.
“I simply felt prefer it was so incorrect to be portrayed that manner in a courtroom,” he mentioned. “It simply felt like a circus, by way of all these folks, all these folks I believed had been buddies, as soon as upon a time on the tennis workforce, the dad and mom, my lecturers, individuals who had given me suggestions for a faculty.”
Jurors this spring additionally heard from six contemporaries of Harrison’s — together with 5 who had been coming ahead for the primary time — with comparable harrowing experiences.
