• Hazing Deaths Database:
  • Blog
  • Storytelling
  • Bio
  • High School Sexual Hazing Incidents
  • Campus Speaker: Hazing & Binge Drinking
  • Hank Nuwer: selected media coverage
  • World Hazing Incidents
  • “Hazing,” “Sons of the Dawn,” “Legend of Jesse Owens”

Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site

Follow me on Social Media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The New Times: Matt’s law: California trial court gets case

August 27, 2009 By Hank Nuwer Leave a Comment

The New Times link

Two frat members headed to trial for hazing as judge warns others
BY ROBERT A. McDONALD

A little more than an hour after he warned defense lawyers that calling their clients’ fraternity brothers to testify might put them in legal jeopardy, a San Luis Obispo judge found there was enough evidence to try two Cal Poly students for the hazing death of Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge Carson Starkey.
 
 Haithem Ibrahim and Zacary Ellis are facing felony hazing charges in connection with the death of Starkey, an 18-year-old Cal Poly freshman from Austin, Texas, who died last December from alcohol poisoning after attending a booze-fueled fraternity initiation. According to the autopsy report, Starkey had a blood alcohol level of more than five times the legal limit. 
 
On the final day of the preliminary hearing Aug. 25, defense attorneys wanted to call a number of fraternity members and pledges who were present on the night of the incident, but Judge Michael Duffy warned the men they should talk to a lawyer before testifying.
 
“I am compelled to tell them that by testifying, they might be subjecting themselves to prosecution,” said Duffy, to a suddenly tense courtroom.
 
The 2006 anti-hazing law that Ibrahim and Ellis are charged with violating states, “Any person who personally engages in hazing that results in death or serious bodily injury” can be prosecuted. The judge implied that any frat members who encouraged pledges to drink that night could potentially be charged under the broad language of the law.
 
After meeting with the judge in his chambers, the defense lawyers decided not to call the additional fraternity members. Wallace Joseph Luke IV, a pledge, testified that he did not feel pressured to drink that night and that Ellis told him to “slow down and take it easy” after people began to throw up.
 
Other witnesses, however, described an atmosphere in which Starkey and others were encouraged to drink heavily.
 
After Starkey’s hearing, Sigma Alpha Epsilon members gathered outside the courtroom around Richard Conway, Ellis’ attorney, asking whether they should worry about being prosecuted.
 
“They are just jerking with you,” said Conway. “But you guys should talk to an attorney.”
 
Ibrahim and Ellis are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 17.
 
This is the second case to go to trial under the state anti-hazing law. The first was against three Chico fraternity brothers who were accused of misdemeanor criminal hazing for running pledges through a physically strenuous initiation rite. All three were acquitted Aug. 25.

Filed Under: Hazing News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Inquiries

Hank Nuwer

Correspondence: Hank Nuwer at Hnuwer@hanknuwer.com   Phone number upon request.  Available presentations USA, … Email to book a date.

Sons of the Dawn

Sons of the Dawn: A Basque Odyssey: Hank's novel is for teens 11-18 but also meant to be enjoyed by … Read More

Hazing Deaths Database:

… Read More

Tallahassee police label December FSU fraternity death an accident, not hazing. Deaths involve FSU SAE and Sig Ep.

Here is the story link The death of a popular Florida State University student found unresponsive inside the Sigma Phi Epsilon house in December has been determined accidental, according to an autopsy released late Tuesday. The District Two Medical Examiner’s Office said the death of William Eppes Proctor, 22, was due to “right epidural hematoma due to […]

Pullman Police Chief Jenkins drops the ball in Big-Little death.

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 […]

Death of a rookie at Lyon College

The bruised body of James Gilfedder is undergoing an autopsy at this time while his teammates continue to play.   Gilfedder’s parents told Arkansas media that their son’s body was battered, and he consumed a fifth of alcohol at a team “hazing party.”  Police are waiting for autopsy results before commenting.  Media said the house […]

Another 2020 close call — TCU

Moderator: This is the same university that had injured pledges in September 2020: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article218683030.html Benton McDonald  -INCIDENT #2.  So similar to death of Nicky Cumberland at University of Texas–Moderator January 28, 2021 TCU placed a fraternity on probation after a hazing investigation revealed that students involved in a car crash last November had been sent […]

Archives


Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site is proudly powered by WordPress