Hank Nuwer, Author; Hazing Deaths Database

Link to story and video:

Defendant Steven Garcia case gets strange twist.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1555215.shtml?cat=517

Moderator: I have a meeting on hazing at the NCAA today so this is short. My conclusions? a) The prosecutor respectfully should rethink her decisions apart from the politics of Carmel. b) The people of Carmel need to compare the felony settlements given Robertson High School’s Steven Garcia (three felonies for football hazing that slid over into sexual assault) with the lightness of these charges. c) Thetaxpayers  of Carmel need to ask how much the school district paid off as a settlement in the 1998 Carmel hazing scandal. See  the Coopersville (Michigan) FOIA request by the Grand Rapids newspaper for precedent. d) The prosecutor’s handling of the case from beginning until yesterday’s press conference needs to be reviewed by an ethics board. e) The Carmel police department needs an impartial investigator to doublecheck handling of evidence. How and why did this video tape disappear and suddenly reappear. It must be determined there was no evidence tampering.  f) Why did the Carmel school wait so long to release its coaches? g) What role did the bus driver play in the skirmish on the bus that resulted in the victimization of a player? What did the driver see in that large mirror? Those are my conclusions and a question–HN

See the long Indianapolis Star comment for details, particularly the quote attributed to Scott Newman. The article is very long. Click all links.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100518/LOCAL01/5180333/We-may-never-know-what-happened

Link to Mark Galloway’s removal

Here is the link to story and video

The word hazing isn’t used in the charges. No felony charges were levied.

See full coverage here by Channel 13, WTHR

Excerpt:

Senior basketball players Robert Kitzinger and Brandon Hoge were charged with misdemeanor counts of battery and criminal recklessness for an incident that occurred on a team bus on January 22. The bus was bringing the team home from a game in Terre Haute.

“The grand jury on each of the last counts, the Class B misdemeanor battery, all involved the bus incident in Hendricks County,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp.

Seniors Oscar Falodun and Scott Laskowski were also indicted on misdemeanor battery and criminal recklessness charges for a January 8 incident in a school locker room.

Class A misdemeanors can carry up to a year of jail time, while a Class B misdemeanor could mean up to 180 days in jail. Both charges could bring fines up to $5,000.