Covering the justice system is a full-contact sport, as one Herald photographer learned Tuesday when alleged rapist Gary Zerola shoulder bumped him in the hallway while exiting the courtroom during the first day of his trial.

Zerola, 51, is a former prosecutor and defense attorney accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old victim in 2016.

One, two, three frames tell the story of how the Herald photographer got bumped — as does a video tweeted by 7News reporter Steve Cooper — that shows Zerola walk into the Herald photographer as he exits the court at the lunch break with his entourage. Zerola offers a quick “sorry.”

One of the women in Zerola’s group starts laughing immediately after the incident, and Zerola appears to smile back at her. While waiting for the elevator, the woman stares at the photographer and laughs as she says something to the effect of “He walked straight into the guy who was taking his picture!”

A Boston-based news videographer said that that Zerola later in the day attempted to find whoever he had bumped into and offer an apology, but the photographer was already on to another assignment.

Neither of Zerola’s attorneys, Rosemary Scapicchio and Joseph Krowski Jr., could be reached by phone later in the evening for comment.