Judge will rule soon on hazing lawsuits

DrummajorRobert Champion, whorose fromclarinetist to aleadership role in FAMU’s famed marching band without hazing anyone or being hazed, did not have to submit to the ritualistic beating that took his life in Orlando last year, according to FAMUlawyers.

“We’re not talking about a 17-year-old freshman who was new on campus and new to the band,” FAMU’s lead counsel, Richard Mitchell, said Wednesday as he tried to persuade Circuit Judge Walter Komanski to throw out a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Champion’s mother, Pamela. “Robert Champion knew exactly what he was doing.”

Mitchell’s arguments countered the view of the mother’s lawyers. They contend that her 26-year-old son, a student at Florida A&MUniversity for seven-plus years, bowed to “institutionalized coercion” and the band’s entrenched tradition of hazing when he boarded Bus C, the percussion section’s bus, and submitted to a fatal gantlet of punches and kicks from fellow band members.

“But there is no evidence of forcing or coercing or deprivation of free will,” Mitchell said during a power-point presentation to the judge. “The argument that he ... had no choice, as if someone put a gun to his head and said, ‘You will participate in this hazing or you will not be a member of this band; you will not be elevated [to drum major],’ is simply untrue.”

The judge, who listened to two hours of arguments from lawyers for Champion’s mother, FAMU, the bus company and the driver of Bus C, said he would rule on the

motions no sooner than the end of next week.

Aruling in favor of FAMU could end the civil case against the school. Champion’s parents, Pamela and Robert Champion of Decatur, Ga., recently rejected FAMU’s offer to settle the lawsuit for $300,000 — the maximum allowed by state law without approval of the Florida Legislature.

The Champions did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.

FAMU lawyers insist that Champion’s willingness to participate in the hazing, an illegal act even if he were only the “hazee,” gives the university immunity from the wrongful-death lawsuit. “If Mr. Champion had not gotten on that bus, he would not have been hazed,” Mitchell said.

Lawyers for Fabulous CoachLines, whichownsthe bus on which the hazing occurred, and for bus driver Wendy Mellette also want the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that FAMU alone hadan obligation to su- pervise band members.

Christopher Chestnut, lead counsel for the Champions, said the family hopes to hold FAMU accountable for failing to stop hazing in its internationally known marching band, which was suspended in the wake of the drum major’s death.

“This case isn’t just about Robert Champion,” Chestnut said after the hearing. “It’s about protecting every student whodesires to march in any band anywhere. This case is about ending a culture of hazing at an institution where it has been prevalent for decades.”

Ten former FAMU band members, charged with felony hazing in Champion’s death, face possible prison sentences if convicted. Two others have pleaded no contest and were sentenced to probation and community service.

Kenneth Bell, an attorney for the Champion family, urged the judge to deny the university’s motions and let a jury ultimately decide who is at fault for the drum major’s death: FAMU, Champion or band members who hazed him.