Mistrial Declared in Case of Former SPS Coach
A judge declared a mistrial in the rape case against a former Seattle Public Schools coach. The decision was made after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. The case will now face a retrial.
- The former volunteer coach is Walter Jones, who was a weightlifting coach at Garfield High School. He faced four counts of child rape and a potential prison sentence of up to 23 years if he had been convicted. - The allegations stem from 2013, when the accuser was an eighth-grader at Washington Middle School practicing with the Garfield High School basketball team due to her athletic talent. Jones was 23 years older than the student at the time. - The jury deliberated for five days but could not come to a unanimous decision, which resulted in King County Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan declaring a mistrial. - Prosecutors have stated their intention to retry the case, though a new trial will likely be overseen by a different judge. - Defense attorneys for Jones argued that the student fabricated the story. - This criminal case follows a civil lawsuit the former student filed against Seattle Public Schools, which resulted in a $16 million settlement, the largest in the district's history. - The civil suit also named another coach, Marvin Hall, who was an assistant boys' basketball coach at Garfield and pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor.
