Following 10 months of negotiations, miscommunication and grand jury and campus investigations, three Syracuse University men’s basketball players have been cleared of both criminal and university charges that they sexually assaulted a female student last fall.

Sophomore basketball players Jonny Flynn, Rick Jackson and Antonio ‘Scoop’ Jardine and a fourth male SU student were cleared of university charges on Aug. 15 by an SU Judicial Affairs panel made up of faculty and staff.

The judicial affairs decision followed an Aug. 2 decision by an Onondaga County grand jury that rejected criminal charges against Flynn, Jackson and Jardine after the three testified in a grand jury hearing. The fourth male student was not a part of the grand jury investigation.

The female student withdrew from SU last spring and will not return, her lawyer said.

‘There was no basis to consider charges,’ said Jackson’s lawyer, Mike Vavonese. ‘Our clients have denied these allegations from day one.’

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick explained the grand jury’s decision in a letter to the three defense attorneys.

‘The grand jury’s decision to decline to even consider charges is consistent with what our investigation revealed,’ Fitzpatrick wrote.

Although cleared of charges, the three players and the male SU student were all placed on disciplinary probation until the spring of 2011, because the panel concluded the players’ conduct could have threatened the female student’s mental health. They must complete 30 hours of community service, take part in a gender sensitivity and domestic violence education program and go through an evaluation to determine if counseling is needed.

Neither the players nor the female student who made the allegations appealed the panel’s decision, said SU spokesman Kevin Morrow.

The female student was disappointed by the grand jury and judicial panel’s decision and still stands by her allegations, but she chose not to appeal, said her lawyer Patrick Britt.

‘It appears that everything has been exhausted at this point,’ Britt said.

The whole process was lengthy because of ‘miscommunication, misunderstandings and scheduling conflicts,’ Britt said.

Flynn’s lawyer Stefano Cambareri said his client has accepted the outcome.

‘We agree with the university judicial board’s decision that the students were not involved in any nonconsensual activities,’ he said. ‘We would certainly disagree that any of the conduct that was alleged at the hearing would damage one’s mental health, but my client is willing to abide by the decision and move on from here.’

The assault allegations stemmed from two incidents last fall involving the female student. She reported both incidents to the SU Department of Public Safety in November. Following university policy, DPS passed the case to the Syracuse Police Department to handle the criminal investigation. But when the student declined to seek criminal charges, the case was closed, according to information from the university.

The student who made the allegations chose to pursue student code of conduct charges through SU, according to information from the university. The case was given to SU’s Office of Judicial Affairs.

Shortly after the allegations were reported, the student’s mother contacted Chancellor Nancy Cantor, and they met to discuss the mother’s concerns, according to information from the university. Cantor then met with university staff, and they decided it was best to ensure that the student received proper counseling and that the Office of Judicial Affairs staff would meet with her to determine if she wanted to pursue an informal resolution, which is the way most student conduct violations are handled.

The student initially chose to pursue a formal resolution through a hearing board, but the process was put on hold when the university learned that a grand jury investigation was in process.

At the beginning of the spring semester, lawyers for all parties involved – the university, the three players and the female student – drafted an informal resolution, which included disciplinary sanctions for the players, according to information from the university. But the female student never signed the resolution.

After the agreement was formulated, the female student’s attorney notified the university that she would be withdrawing from the university and would no longer take part in the judicial process and that the university could proceed as necessary, according to information from the university. The players and university signed the resolution, and the case was closed again.

Since Fitzpatrick believed the case had been resolved, the district attorney’s office also decided to close the grand jury investigation, Fitzpatrick wrote in his letter to the defense attorneys.

‘We concluded that the agreement between all parties obviously served the interests of justice,’ he wrote. ‘We were advised that the accuser had left Syracuse University and was satisfied with the agreed disposition of the case. We therefore closed our investigation at that time.’

Judicial Affairs reopened the case after The College of Arts and Sciences associate dean David Potter filed a petition on the girl’s behalf, according to the university.

For the case to be reopened, new material needed to be presented. Judicial Affairs determined that the student had provided new evidence that her attorney at the time had misunderstood her wishes when he told the university she no longer wanted to take part in judicial proceedings, according to the university.

The district attorney’s office reopened the case when the office became aware of Potter’s petition, according to Fitzgerald’s letter. When the university notified the district attorney’s office that judicial hearings would be held, the office asked SU to wait until after the grand jury proceedings to hold any campus hearing.

Once the grand jury decision was rendered, the university completed its own formal judicial process, which concluded with the panel’s decision.

SU spokesman Morrow said, ‘The university considers the matter to be closed.’

mghicken@syr.edu

Published on August 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm