Publications
Newsletter
Articles
- Kentucky Supreme Court Rules That Fraternity Houses Are Private Residences Under the Fourth Amendment
- What About the 8,200 Good Chapters?
- 22 Students Convicted in Hazing Death
- Acceptance of Transgender Students Grows in Women's College and University
- Manslaughter Convictions in Florida A&M Band Death
- Penn State and Fraternity Sued
- New Texas Concealed Weapons Law Leaves More Questions Than Answers
- Private College Police are Frequently Public Law Enforcement Officers
- Records of Private College Police are Public Records
- 2015 Fraternal Law Conference
- Stop It Now!
Search
Newsletter > June 2015 > "Manslaughter Convictions in Florida A&M Band Death"
Manslaughter Convictions in Florida A&M Band Death
Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com
On Friday, April 24, 2015, Aaron Golson, Benjamin McNamee and Darryl Cearnel, the last three Florida A&M University band members charged in the hazing death of Robert Champion, removed their suit jackets as they were handcuffed and removed from the courtroom following their conviction for manslaughter and felony hazing. They will be sentenced in June and could receive as much as 15 years for manslaughter and five years for hazing.
The President of Bus C, where Robert Champion was beaten by his fellow band members in a hazing right known as Crossing Bus C, Dante Martin, was previously convicted and sentenced to six years in prison (as reported in the January 2015 edition of Fraternal Law). The three most recent convictions appear to be the end of the criminal prosecutions of some 15 students who had been on the bus and engaged in the beating of Champion. Most of the others were given probation and community service as their sentences.
State Attorney Jeff Ashton was quoted in an April 5, 2015 ABC news report as saying “There is no real joy in any of this for anyone. The only great thing that hopefully will come of this is that young people will take a lesson from this and understand that the hazing laws are serious and they have serious consequences in everybody’s life … hazing has got to stop.”