Two FSU students and a TCC student accused of hazing will have their records wiped clean after prosecutors are forced to drop the charges.
Nicholas Finazzo, Drew Johnson and Joshua Vincent were arrested on misdemeanor hazing charges back in January 2007.
They were caught in the crawl space beneath a home on Bonnie Drive after the mother of a Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge called police.
FSU Police responded to the scene and after hearing screams called Tallahassee Police for help, but a recent court ruling says FSU police did not have jurisdiction off campus and prosecutors have since dropped the charges.
“Law enforcement officers like the rest of us have to follow the rules. (In this case) they didn’t and that’s why the case was dismissed,” said Finazzo’s attorney Lisa Hurley.
Prosecutor Stephanie Webster says she has no doubt a crime was committed at the house, but with all the evidence now thrown out, obviously she cannot prove it.
Tony Bajoczky, who represents Joshua Vincent, called Judge Francis’s decision a good one and says he hopes FSU Police will pay attention to it. They don’t have carte blanche to investigate or make arrests off campus, he says.
A fourth student, Eric Fernandez, already entered a plea in this case and served a mix of jail time and probation.
