Northwestern Senior High has been a football factory for places like the University of Miami and the NFL.
So it should come as no surprise that former principal Dwight Bernard would call on some of his former players to testify for him in his much-anticipated cover up trial.
On Thursday, UM star Jacory Harris took the stand to tell a Miami-Dade jury about how swell a guy Bernard was during his time leading the school. Harris was a star quarterback at Northwestern in 2008.
Bernard is accused of covering up a sexual assault involving a former standout football player in 2007. Harris was on the football team at the time, but knows little about the specific incident involving former standout player Antwain Easterling.
"He really isn't a football fan. He just worries about our academics. That's what's first," Harris said about Bernard.
Prosecutors paint a different picture of Bernard. Bernard is accused of giving preferential treatment to Easterling, a star running back who later helped Northwestern win a state title.
In 2007, Easterling was charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a minor after it was discoverd he had sex with a 14-year-old girl in a school bathroom. Easterling was 18 at the time and while the sex was consentual, by state law it is statutory rape.
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Despite the allegations, Easterling was allowed to play for Northwestern in the state title game. The charges against him were later dismissed after he completed a pretrial program.
Prosecutors allege Bernard knew about the sexual encounter but did not report it or discipline Easterling because he wanted to win the state championship.
Defense attorneys had Harris discuss several instances where Bernard suspended key players before important games for misconduct off the field.
Harris, who was never suspended at Northwestern, said although he didn't speak to Bernard often, when they did talk, it was all about academics.
"That's what he preached," Harris said.
