13 Charged In Robert Champion Hazing Death

**sugarfree irony** · May 4th, 2012, 05:59 PM

http://abcnews.go.com/US/famu-hazing...1#.T6ROOsUXJ31

Robert Champion

The parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion, who died from a hazing attack, alleged today that there was a "calculated conspiracy" to cover-up their son's death.

The accusation follows Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar's announcement Wednesday of charges brought against 13 individuals in connection to Champion's death in November 2011.

Champion, 26, was a member of the college's famed "Marching 100" band when he collapsed and died Nov. 19 on a bus parked outside an Orlando, Fla., hotel after a football game.

The death was ruled a homicide and Lamar said Champion's torso was covered with bruises that he said were inflicted during a brutal hazing ritual that contributed to his death.

"It did not take five months to figure out who murdered Robert Champion. This is not a murder mystery," Champion family attorney Christopher Chestnut said at a news conference today in Atlanta. "There is no excuse for the lack of accountability."

"We have learned that there was a calculated conspiracy to cover up Robert Champion's murder," he said. "We have heard that alumni were communicating with students on that bus, telling them how to respond, what to say, what not to say in order to ensure that no one would be arrested and charged for murder. That is simply inexcusable."

Eleven of the 13 individuals were charged with hazing resulting in death, a third-degree felony, as well as two counts of misdemeanor felony. The other two people were charged with one count each of misdemeanor hazing. The maximum sentence for hazing resulting in death is six years.

The state attorney said on Wednesday that there was not enough evidence for murder charges.

"Obviously, someone should be charged with murder," Chestnut said. "The most severe sentence is six years. Robert Champion has a life sentence."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...second-hazing/

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Aaron Golson, one of the defendants charged in the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, is already facing charges in another hazing incident.

Golson, 19, turned himself in on Thursday in Gadsden County.

Golson, who is from Georgia, is one of 11 band members charged with felony hazing in connection to the November death of Champion. Two others are going to be charged with misdemeanors, authorities said.

Golson was one of two band members arrested last December by Tallahassee police for allegedly hitting Bria Hunter so hard it broke her thigh. A third member was charged at the time with hazing because the incident occurred in his off-campus apartment.

I never think of the band when I think of hazing . I guess any group of kids , young adults can include violent bullies .

**biteme** · May 4th, 2012, 06:19 PM

These are not stupid little kids, these are adults, just an excuse to beat on someone
apparently one asshole already broke someone's leg in another hazing excuse for violence
just shoot the prick, only way to stop him

**Dakota Valkyrie** · June 11th, 2012, 06:17 PM

The Florida college marching band member killed in a brutal 2011 hazing wanted to submit to the ritual and received permission from the head drum major to participate on the night he died, according to testimony released by prosecutors on Wednesday.

Robert Champion, 26, was beaten to death on board Bus C, part of a fleet of 11 buses and a limousine that ferried the Florida A & M University marching band to the Florida Classic football game and band competition in Orlando in November 2011.

Champion's family has described the drum major as being opposed to hazing.

But head drum major Jonathan Boyce told investigators in a taped statement that he gave Champion permission because the football season was over and Bus C students were calling him for his last-minute approval to put Champion through the ordeal.

"I was like 'Robert they're texting me ... Do you still want to do it?' So he was like 'yes.' I was like fine," according to a transcript of Boyce's testimony.

He described the hazing ritual as "a respect thing" and said "He (Champion) was wanting to do it all ... all season,"

Boyce is one of 13 arrested in the death of Champion, who died of blunt trauma injuries. Eleven of the defendants have been charged with a third-degree felony for "hazing with death," which is punishable under Florida law with a maximum of six years in prison. Two others face a misdemeanor charge.
[...]

The hazing ritual, described by several band members in depositions released on Wednesday, involved the "hot seat" in which a student is beaten in a bus seat, and the "crossing" in which the student is beaten while making his or her way down the aisle to touch the back wall.

According to the transcript, Boyce said Champion was down on one knee and within two feet of the back of the bus when he arrived. Boyce said he climbed over the bus seats to reach Champion to help him reach the goal while other students were pulling Champion in the opposite direction to prevent him from touching the wall.

"So I grab him, uh, to try to keep everybody off of him. I grab him and I'm pulling him and I'm pulling him. And I see people ... people are kicking him so I, um, stop them from kicking him and I put my body around his body. And I'm just pulling, me, uh, me and Shawn," Boyce said, referring to a fellow drum major.

"I was like Shawn we gotta pull harder ... We yanked him, uh, real hard and he came loose from everybody else and he hit the wall ... And so then it was over. They can't touch him anymore," Boyce said.

Boyce told investigators that students started leaving the bus.

"He (Champion) was fine. He was like yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Um, I just, um, I'm just tired and I ... I want something to drink."

Boyce said he gave Champion some Gatorade and told him to go rest in his room. When Boyce got to the hotel door, he noticed Champion wasn't coming and went back to the bus. There, he said, he found Champion still in the back of the bus panicking, saying he was having trouble breathing and couldn't see.

Boyce said Champion passed out but still had a pulse. Boyce said he helped carry Champion to the front of the bus, then went to the hotel to figure out what to do. By the time he returned, paramedics were on the scene.

http://townhall.com/news/us/2012/06/...zing_defendant

**Obsolete** · June 11th, 2012, 07:08 PM

I don't have any sympathy for victims of hazing. If you're stupid enough to willing submit to being beaten and hulimiated then I'm not going to feel bad for you when shit goes down.

Dumbass.

**sugarfree irony** · October 22nd, 2012, 01:21 PM

A Florida judge is expected to hand down the first criminal sentence on Monday in the hazing death of college drum major Robert Champion, who was fatally beaten during a marching band ritual last fall.

Former Florida A&M University band member Bryan Jones, 23, pleaded no contest on October 9 to a charge of hazing causing injury or death, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Jones is the first of 12 former members of the historically black college's "Marching 100" band to face sentencing for felony hazing after changing his plea from not guilty.

Judge Marc Lubet has set a status hearing on the other 11 cases for March 1, according to prosecution spokeswoman Anna Akers. No trial dates have been scheduled.

Champion, 26, died in a hazing ritual during a band trip to Orlando on November 19, 2011. His death was ruled a homicide as a result of a "hemorrhagic shock" caused by "blunt force trauma" during the hazing, according to the medical examiner's report.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...,1655691.story

**Icy** · October 22nd, 2012, 07:42 PM

Judge Rules No Jail Time In First FAMU Hazing Sentencing

The first of 12 defendants in the deadly hazing case of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion was sentenced by an Orlando court on Monday.

Brian Jones, 23, avoided a jail term, but was sentenced to six months of community supervision — a strict monitoring arragement that requires an ankle monitor and frequent check-ins with probation officials — followed by two years of probation. He is also required to do 200 hours of community service, The Associated Press reported.

The band had traveled to Orlando from Tallahassee to perform at a football game when the fellow band members subjected Champion to a severe beating on the bus — in a ritual called "crossing Bus C" — which caused him to fall unconscious, and then die, on Nov. 19, 2011.

Jones, a percussionist, faced up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. But the judge said Jones’ role had been relatively limited.
"
This young man's part in this horrible act ... as compared with many others from what I've seen is minimal," said Judge Marc Lubet, ruling in Orange County Court. "It was an isolated incident in this man's life for which he's shown remorse."

Lubet quoted Abraham Lincoln as he announced the sentence, saying that "mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice," the Orlando Sentinel reported.

After initially pleading not guilty, Jones entered a no-contest plea Oct. 9 to a third-degree felony hazing charge.

Champion’s parents attended Monday's court proceedings. Prior to the sentencing, his mother challenged the idea that Jones’ role had been minor:

"You and I know that's not true," said Pam Champion, addressing Jones, and carrying a picture of her son. "You played a critical role."

"You won't be able to put it out if your mind...It will haunt you," she told Jones.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...utmk=269119026