Before the first witness of the year was sworn in during the ongoing trial of Shannon O’Connor—the Los Gatos woman dubbed “Party Mom” for the role she’s accused of playing in organizing alcohol-fueled get-togethers for teens—there was a small matter Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson had to attend to.
One of the jurors admitted he’d disobeyed their instructions and consumed media about the case—and not just by briefly encountering an unavoidable headline.
“I saw it on YouTube,” he told the Los Gatan, as he descended the elevator and headed out towards the San Jose street, after being kicked out Monday morning.
Up in Department 39, John Doe 5 took the stand to recount the arc of his relationship with O’Connor (between 6th Grade and his freshman year of high school).
O’Connor is accused of 39 offenses, including child endangerment and sexual battery.
Instead of the bedraggled demeanor of her bail hearing era, for 2026 O’Connor is sporting more of a librarian look: black suit jacket, collared light top, well-coiffed brown hair and glasses.
John Doe 5 told Deputy District Attorney Joanna Lee he saw five or six of his peers puking after drinking too much at one O’Connor-organized event.
“I saw a bunch of people throwing up and crying in the bathroom,” he said, noting at that particular gathering he downed at least 10 drinks during a period when he also hit the hot tub—and hopped in the pool. “It wasn’t the best decision I made.”
Lee asked him how he got home from the party. John Doe 5, who was given immunity by prosecutors, replied that he was so drunk he had to get a friend to type his mom for him. He’d initially wanted to stay overnight, but wasn’t allowed, he said.
The witness said that O’Connor became so ingrained within his social group that if you got on her bad side—for example by revealing details about the partying to other adults—you would be ostracized.
“You’d become isolated,” he said. “Because you’d screwed up.”
Sexual discourse wasn’t out of the ordinary in group settings with the decades-older O’Connor, he said, explaining she’d constantly pry for “drama” gossip—about who was having sex with who. In fact, he added, one time she even suggested he try hooking up with a girl his age he liked.
John Doe 5 said O’Connor only suggested he go “talk” to the girl, but that the angling for sex was implied. The witness said he did talk to the girl, though it didn’t lead to sex. John Doe 5 said he didn’t feel coerced by O’Connor.
O’Connor became a useful go-between for the boys and girls, the witness said.
“She just kinda seemed like a good person to talk to,” he said, adding if they had a problem with a girl, she’d give them advice.
“Do you feel like she normalized sex in a way?” Lee asked.
“Yes, I’d say so,” John Doe 5 responded.
The prosecutor asked if O’Connor would make comments about the girls to the boys.
“Would she comment on their appearance?” asked Lee.
“Mainly if someone was attractive,” the witness stated.
Defense lawyer Stephen Prekoski sought to put the teen’s drinking in perspective.
Defense lawyer asks questions about the extent of the underage drinking
Upon questioning, John Doe 5 confirmed he only drank alcohol three times out of the at least 100 times he spent with O’Connor—in her car, at her home or at an event she organized.
“Did my client pressure you to drink?” Prekoski asked.
“No,” the witness replied.
“Did my client pour you alcohol?” the lawyer followed-up.
“No,” said John Doe 5.
“Did my client hand you alcohol?” Prekoski continued.
“No,” came the response from the stand.
Overall, the witness said his life hasn’t been too negatively affected by his experience with O’Connor.
And at the time, his relationship with her didn’t seem that out of the ordinary to him.
Looking back though, he does see how odd it was to have been chatting about teenage hookups with an adult, the way they did.
“It just feels very weird that we were able to talk about that with a parent, especially that much,” he said.
He added that Robert Amaral, Shannon O’Connor’s husband, caught him the day after the night he first drank at their house.
“Her husband was pretty upset about it when he found out about it, but that was really the only person,” he said, adding the partying did not stop at this point.
Afterwards, John Doe 5’s father took to the stand, confirming many of the details shared by his son.
“When you’re a parent, sometimes you have some sense of guilt,” he said, describing his initial reaction to learning about the parties. “How did we not know that this was going on?”
John Doe 5’s dad said he and his wife had previously caught Shannon O’Connor on at least one group chat with kids. They admonished O’Connor and demanded to be included on any future communications with the children, he said.
The trial is set to continue throughout the week.
If this defendant were a dad and did everything this mom is charged with, there would be universal condemnation of him.
Even without physical contact with the children.
Discussing sex with minors? That’s a sex crime. Watching minors having sex? Also a sex crime.
Adults asking children to keep secrets about the adult’s behavior, and arranging for children to become intoxicated, are hallmarks of grooming and trying to blame the child.
I hope the jury can imagine themselves as the children in these scenarios, and see through the defendant’s Betty Crocker act.
She deserves punishment for the sex criminal she is.