Mistrial declared in case of former San José State athletic trainer accused of sexual misconduct
The trial of a former student-athlete trainer accused of inappropriately touching women on the swim team at San José State University ended in a mistrial Thursday.
Scott Shaw, 56, faced six misdemeanor counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law, to which he had pleaded not guilty.
The charges in the two-week trial stemmed from his time working as an athletic trainer for San José State, where he allegedly violated the civil rights of the student-athletes on the women’s swim team by touching their breasts and buttocks without their consent.
According to the Mercury News, the jury remained deadlocked after four days of deliberations. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman, who presided over the case, told the jurors not to “bully or antagonize” one another during the heated discussions.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block will step down from the helm of the nation’s top-ranked public university after steering the Westwood campus through a financial crisis and global pandemic and boosting enrollment, diversity, philanthropy and research funding.
“The legal process has concluded, and while the lack of a verdict and definitive resolution is disappointing, it does not diminish the pain endured by the survivors,” a representative for San José State University said in a statement.
Allegations against Shaw date as far back as 2009, although the trial only included allegations from 2017 through 2020 due to the statue of limitations. A report from the California State University chancellor’s office last year concluded that the early complaints were not properly investigated by San José State or the school’s Police Department.
Shaw voluntarily resigned from his position at the school in 2020. In 2021, San José State reached a $3.3-million settlement with 15 former student athletes who said they were sexually harassed by Shaw.
Attorneys for Shaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors in the case could also not be reached for comment Thursday night.
The action takes the battle over teaching about racism to state civil court and, if the ban is overturned, could have a sweeping effect in California.
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