Plea deal ‘very close’ in ex-SJSU trainer sexual assault trial that ended in hung jury

SAN JOSE – Four days after a mistrial was declared, San Jose State’s former head athletic trainer Scott Shaw is nearing a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to at least one of six federal charges in his sexual assault case.

“We think we are very close if not there,” Shaw’s defense lawyer, Dave Callaway, told a judge Monday morning. “But Mr. Shaw needs time to talk to his family.”

After the two-week trial that ended last week with a hung jury – with at least 10 of the 12 jury members voting to convict – one of the jurors came to observe the Monday court proceeding and pumped his fist at the news. “Yes!’’ he said.

“I’m thrilled. You’re going to do a retrial or a change of plea. Either way it bodes well for the victims,” said the male juror, one of the eight-woman, four-man jury who didn’t want to be identified. “And hopefully that’ll close things out.”

Neither Callaway nor Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman would say what kind of deal they were close to or to how many charges Shaw might plead guilty. But if the talks break down or Shaw changes his mind, Pitman told the judge he is ready to set a date for a new trial.

Shaw, 56, had pleaded not guilty to six federal charges of violating the constitutional right to “bodily integrity” of four former female Spartan athletes who accused Shaw of touching them inappropriately inside their bras and underwear under the guise of treatment. They were the latest victims to come forward – and did so within the five-year statute of limitations. But more than two dozen other former athletes, including 17 swimmers, had accused Shaw of the same thing going back to at least 2009.

An internal San Jose State University investigation, which was later widely lambasted as inadequate, had cleared him in 2010, concluding that Shaw’s “trigger point therapy” was legitimate treatment. An ongoing crusade against Shaw by swim coach Sage Hopkins ultimately led in 2020 to investigations by the Cal State system and the U.S. Department of Justice, which found that the women were victims of sexual assault. That led to more than $5 million in legal settlements to the victims and the resignations of the university president and athletic director. Shaw voluntarily retired in 2020 as the scandal became public.

One of the victims, gymnast Amy LeClair who graduated from San Jose State in 2016, said the possibility of a plea deal is one step closer to justice. With the legal settlements and resignations, the university has accepted some — albeit belated — accountability, she said. Shaw, however, was able to voluntarily retire with a pension.

“Having some accountability from the perpetrator of this horrible thing we went through is very healing,” LeClair said Monday. She received a settlement from the school, but was not part of the criminal case since her experience with Shaw predated the statute of limitations.

Eight former athletes testified during the trial, with several breaking down in tears as they spoke about Shaw groping their breasts for shoulder injuries and groins for back injuries.

If Shaw changes his plea to guilty, a sentencing date will be set and victims will have the opportunity to either submit written statements or appear in court to voice their opinions.

The civil rights charges are misdemeanors and each carries up to a year in prison.

In interviews with the Bay Area News Group after U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman declared a mistrial last Thursday, several jurors, including the foreman, explained their frustration with one juror in particular who announced at the start of deliberations that she believed Shaw was innocent and nothing would change her mind.

The woman – a 53-year-old engineer – barely deliberated after that, jurors said, leading the foreman to try, unsuccessfully, to have her removed for not performing her duty. That juror complained that she was being “coerced” by her fellow jurors, and at one point the judge warned the jury to not bully one another.

The jury deadlocked 11-1 on one count and 10-2 on the other five.

“It was three weeks of my life,” the juror who came to court Monday said, “and a lifetime of frustration.”