San Diego
Testimony began Friday behind closed doors in the case of a Knox Elementary School teacher charged with 32 sex crimes against two female students.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Aaron Katz persuaded Municipal Judge Rafael Arreola to bar the press and public from hearing the testimony of the two girls against Ernest (Booker) Brown, 47.
Katz presented the testimony of a psychiatrist, who told the judge the girls would “very likely” suffer psychological harm by testifying in open court at the preliminary hearing.
Attorney Marilyn Huff, representing the San Diego Union and Tribune, opposed the closure.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Tuesday.
Katz said the order bars the public from hearing only the two 12-year-old girls’ testimony. But the only prosecution witnesses are the alleged victims.
Brown was arrested Nov. 30 at the Southeast San Diego school and remains in jail in lieu of $600,000 bail.
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