Boys’ basketball: Otis jury to enter 9th day of deliberations

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A Compton jury will enter its ninth day of deliberations on Friday as it determines four criminal charges against former Compton Dominguez boys’ basketball Coach Russell Otis.

Otis, 47, who directed Dominguez to five CIF state and 10 Southern Section championships between 1987 and 2008, is charged with making unwanted sexual advances on a former Dominguez player and with illegally depositing a $15,000 Nike check written to Compton Unified School District into his personal bank account.

If guilty, Otis would likely be barred from coaching again. If acquitted, it will be the second time in eight years the coach has avoided conviction in the Compton court after being charged with sexual molestation of another former player in 2001.

That 2001 jury needed just four hours to acquit.

-- Lance Pugmire