May 19, 2007 - Norm Burgos, 43, Tamalpais High School physical education teacher and tennis coach, continues to be on unpaid leave after his arrest in August 2006 on sexual battery charges.
It wasn't the first time that Burgos was in trouble. In 2002, Burgos was reprimanded after a 15-year-old student told his psychologist he had been molested by his physical education teacher. No charges were filed.
Two other students wrote letters of complaint in March 2005, after which the school district served Burgos with the unprofessional conduct notice, court records state. Burgos acknowledged in writing that he had a "trust bond" with the students, which "resulted in a serious error in judgment." Despite all that, he is well-supported, (even heroic) according to an article in the Marin Independent Journal.
TT - Is Nick Burgos the same one who played in the 1994 Gay Games tennis doubles?
A second hearing is scheduled for June 1.
UNRULY SUPPORTERS June 1 - The gallery in Marin Superior Court was crowded Friday with students, parents and other Burgos supporters, some of whom whispered and giggled at the accuser's responses until Judge Faye D'Opal told them she would ask them to leave the courtroom if they could not remain composed.
The preliminary hearing is set to continue July 24.
TT - This is what victims go through and is one of the reasons why many victims wait a number of years until they no longer live in the community.
PRELIMINARY HEARING August 6 - After a 2002 complaint, Chris Holleran, principal of Tamalpais High School, told the judge that he told Burgos not to ot to measure students' body fat on the thigh area and discussed the complaint with the teacher. Holleran did not think Burgos intentionally touched the student.
In other testimony,
when another student complained about a November 2004 incident involving Burgos, he went to the school district superintendent with his concerns. He then drafted a notice of "unprofessional conduct and improvement plan" for Burgos. In the letter, he ordered Burgos not to conduct any body fat measurements in the future.Two years later, in 2006, after the police investigated, Burgos was arrested. The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Aug. 3.
JUDGE TO DECIDE June 5, 2008 - A Marin Superior Court judge said she will decide in two weeks whether former Tamalpais High School tennis coach Norm Burgos should stand trial on sexual battery charges involving a 16-year-old player. Judge D'Opal recently rejected the prosecution's attempt to add additional victims to this particular case.
D'Opal said she would rule on June 18 whether to order Burgos to stand trial on the charges.
In a hearing Tuesday afternoon, the courtroom was filled with parents and students who support Burgos.TRIAL ORDERED June 18 - The judge ruled that Burgos will stand trial on two sexual battery counts - one count alleging that he restrained the boy, the other alleging that he fraudulently claimed that the intimate touching served some professional purpose.
"He's the greatest tennis coach my son has ever had," said Donna Bohegian of Corte Madera, whose son Zak plays for Tamalpais High. "We chose to go to Tam instead of Redwood because of Norm Burgos."
The ruling by D'Opal caps nearly two years of legal maneuvering between prosecutors and Burgos, whose court hearings are routinely attended by a corps of loyal parents and players.No trial date scheduled.
