The police chief missed the deadline to post hazing charges. Shame on Pullman Police and the Prosecutor for letting the one-year statute of limitations expire in the “Big-Little” death of Sam Martinez, a travesty, at Washington State’s Alpha Tau Omega house.
“We had our eyes on a potential more serious offense, that was manslaughter, and because of the logistics and trying to interview the large number of witnesses we had, it lengthened that investigation,” said Chief Jenkins. “Unfortunately this pushed us beyond the one year timeline that would be required for some misdemeanors, and one of those misdemeanors is hazing. I wish we could have completed this investigation sooner, we just were not able to with the number of witnesses and logistics involved.”
Response from activist Ev Piazza
So I’m confused – in the State of Idaho, misdemeanors aren’t prosecutable? There is not DA before a judge arguing why a defendant should pay for their crimes of intentional abuse called Hazing? Is this just like a traffic ticket? A young man lost his life at the hands of individuals who thought it was cool to make “potential new members”, I.e. “pledges”, drink lethal amounts of alcohol to prove their loyalty and commitment and there is no price to pay except on the part of Sam Martinez’s family and friends who now get to live the rest of their lives with that hole in their heart and the frustration in knowing Sam’s peers intentionally set out to hurt him with alcohol. The justice system is so messed up (me using nice language)
Coroner Annie Pillers ruled that Martinez died 4 hours before paramedics were called to the house.
