The civil trial unfolded on the Marin County Civic Center, a nationwide landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the place a part of the 1997 sci-fi film “Gattaca” was filmed. And although Burgos, 58, stays in jail after not too long ago dropping an enchantment, 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 at all times see each other.
One potential juror was excused after saying that years in the past, when he was a scholar and strolling house from college, Burgos tried to lure him into his automotive. 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 assist Harrison.
But 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 therapy.
As a Tamalpais High School scholar, Harrison stated he feared reporting Burgos, who was additionally a preferred health club trainer, as a result of he had a lot to lose. Yet when he went to the police, in faculty, he was mocked and scorned by a group that fiercely believed Burgos.
“I just felt like it was so wrong to be portrayed that way in a courtroom,” he stated. “It just felt like a circus, in terms of all these people, all these people I thought were friends, once upon a time on the tennis team, the parents, my teachers, people who had given me recommendations for a school.”
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.
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