Mistrial Declared in Former Seattle Coach's Rape Trial
A mistrial has been declared in the rape trial of a former Seattle Public Schools coach after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Prosecutors will now reconsider the case following the hung jury.
- The former volunteer coach, Walter Jones, 48, faced four counts of child rape and a potential 23-year prison sentence if he had been convicted. - The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision after five days of deliberations, which followed a week of testimony. - The alleged victim, now 25, was an eighth-grader at Washington Middle School practicing with the Garfield High School basketball team when the alleged rapes by Jones, who was 23 years her senior, began in 2013. - Prosecutors stated the victim did not report the alleged rapes until 2021, after she had gone to college. Defense attorneys argued that the student had fabricated the story. - Prior to the criminal trial, the victim filed a civil lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools, which resulted in a record $16 million settlement for the district. - That civil case also involved another coach, Marvin Hall, who was an assistant boys' basketball coach at Garfield and pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor. - While awaiting trial, Jones was found to have violated his electronic home monitoring by attending at least 13 high school sporting events. - The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office will now determine whether to retry the case, and a new trial would likely be presided over by a different judge.
