Former Duck athlete Micah Harris was found guilty of torture and sexual assault in a San Diego courthouse last Tuesday. The torture charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years to life in prison. Harris was living in San Diego, Calif. to train for the 2008 Olympics at the time.
The conviction stems from an incident at a San Diego nightclub in March 2006. Deputy District Attorney Kristin Spieler said Harris met the victim at the bar and offered her a ride home. After a short ride to her car, he pinned her inside her car, beat her and tried to sexually assault her. She escaped briefly; before Harris ran her down and smashed her head into a telephone pole, Spieler told the Emerald in a Mar. 13 article.
The next hearing will take place on Sept. 29, where the lawyers will have an opportunity to file post trial motions. If they do not do so, Harris will be sentenced. Harris’ defense attorney Keith Rutman said he thought the torture conviction was unwarranted and that he was uncertain the jury was fully aware of how the law reads.
“It is the infliction of cause great bodily injury, with intent to cause pain for revenge, persuasion, extortion, or sadistic pleasure,” Rutman read.
Rutman said that the night in question was Harris’ first time meeting the woman, so many of the motives for torture do not apply to his actions.
During the trial, Harris admitted to hitting the woman but nothing more. He said that he was trying to drive the woman home because she was too drunk. He also said that he and the woman did have sex, but that it was consensual. In addition,
Harris said that some of the woman’s injuries occurred when she fell while trying to get out of the car, according to an article published on NBCSandiego.com.
“She hit me twice with the phone in the face, and for me it was just a reaction, and I hit her back,” he was quoted by NBCSandiego.com telling the jury.
Rutman said that since the verdict, Harris has been really despondent, and he hasn’t ate or slept well.
“He honestly feels that he didn’t do anything that would justify a conviction of torture,” Rutman said.
Harris was also convicted of mayhem, which is when a person “unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human being of a member of their body, or disables, disfigures, or renders it useless, or cuts or disables the tongue, or puts out an eye, or slits the nose, ear, or lip,” according to the California Penal Code.
The other convictions were on charges of sexual assault and sexual assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. Harris was found not guilty of attempted rape.
Lt. Vince Villalvazo, head of the sex crimes unit in San Diego, said it is rare for someone to be charged with torture and mayhem, and that they are only used in extreme cases.
“Micah Harris was convicted of some very serious charges,” Villalvazo said.
University officials had little to say in regards to Harris. Dave Willaford, assistant athletic director and media services, said that Harris did not contact them at any point following his arrest, and they have not heard from him since he graduated in 2002. Harris’ former hurdles coach at the University, Dan Steele, declined comment on the conviction.
Rutman said that Harris was really fond of the University and enjoyed his time there. He said that Harris was looking forward to returning to Eugene for the Olympic trials in 2008.