FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:04:00 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

Kovo

Quote from: miac952 on September 21, 2017, 11:54:28 AM
Quote from: wm4 on September 21, 2017, 10:25:36 AM
Quote from: Kovo on September 20, 2017, 10:07:38 PM

It will be more than egg on Mr. Berlin's face if this case falls apart.  You have an elected official (feeding from the public trough at the rate of 171K per year), who has decided to ignore whatever Wheaton College and the NCAA concluded and file serious felony charges against five (out of state) students completely derailing their lives and smearing them forever (some day their obituary will include this case).  While waiting 16 months after the incident (and after the election?) to file charges.  It may the strongest case in the history of the county and justified, but it just seems unusual.





With all due respect, I think it would be fair to let Mr. Berlin do his job.  He seems quite qualified to do so, having been both appointed and then elected to his position by the people of DuPage county.  Given the size and population of the county, this is not a new process for him and his staff.  They deal with this stuff all the time.  This one makes headlines because of the topic of hazing/sexual assault and the tie in with athletes. 

Here's his bio

https://www.dupageco.org/States_Attorney/1958/

I think I read Berlin is a former D3 football player at Dickinson. He has no reputation for grandstanding.

16 months isn't all that long when you factor what evidence is being pursued. Furthermore the disconnect in punishment between the school and the DA could simply be due to what they have at their disposal, as it relates to resources and the law. The police likely took in a stream of eyewitness accounts from the dorm, the alleged suspects, the alleged victim, the 2nd hazed teammate, and a number of others. 5-6 weeks after the incident kids were off campus delaying much of that work. They also probably reviewed medical records, both from that night, and prior to. They probably interviewed nurses, physicians, and others in that field regarding the bilateral labrum tears that victim had and any other injuries sustained. Subpoena's were likely pursued for common area security camera's in the dorm's. Those take a significant period of time. And last but not least, I am guessing they pursued subpoena's for cellphones from the victim and others involved, and maybe even social media accounts like Snapchat for all involved as well. Those take a notoriously long time to get.

My point is 16 months feels long, but when you factor in the number of individuals involved and the locations it took place, and the typical backlog of investigations and cases for Police and DA, it starts to make a little more sense. Its unfortunate. You would hope that you could have a clear answer delivered within a month or so after the complaint.

Ok here is a little context from a case we may remember.  Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were found murdered on June 12, 1994.  O.J. was arrested on June 17, 1994.  The trial began on January 24, 1995.

In Florida---and perhaps some of you Illinois guys can help me out on the law there---had the police opted for an arrest that night speedy trial rules mandate the trial to take place no later than 180 days after arrest for a felony including a life felony or death penalty case. 

emma17

Come on. You're one of several that seem to think the time frame isn't out of the ordinary. Do you say this out of experience? Are there some stats that prove this out?
The list of things to be done you provided is similar to lists others have provided. If any of us made a list of everything we do to get something done, it would look long and time-consuming. But we get our things done in a whole lot less time than 18 months- Especially considering the following:

If those five men did what they did, they presented a danger to other students. No way, no way does the police dept take their time looking for evidence when other students could be in danger.

Wasn't OJ identified immediately as the primary suspect? As such, he was hardly a danger to others. Five guys that think it's ok to do what the victim said they did are a danger to the student body.

washdupcard

Quote from: Kovo on September 21, 2017, 12:09:48 PM
Quote from: miac952 on September 21, 2017, 11:54:28 AM
Quote from: wm4 on September 21, 2017, 10:25:36 AM
Quote from: Kovo on September 20, 2017, 10:07:38 PM

It will be more than egg on Mr. Berlin's face if this case falls apart.  You have an elected official (feeding from the public trough at the rate of 171K per year), who has decided to ignore whatever Wheaton College and the NCAA concluded and file serious felony charges against five (out of state) students completely derailing their lives and smearing them forever (some day their obituary will include this case).  While waiting 16 months after the incident (and after the election?) to file charges.  It may the strongest case in the history of the county and justified, but it just seems unusual.





With all due respect, I think it would be fair to let Mr. Berlin do his job.  He seems quite qualified to do so, having been both appointed and then elected to his position by the people of DuPage county.  Given the size and population of the county, this is not a new process for him and his staff.  They deal with this stuff all the time.  This one makes headlines because of the topic of hazing/sexual assault and the tie in with athletes. 

Here's his bio

https://www.dupageco.org/States_Attorney/1958/

I think I read Berlin is a former D3 football player at Dickinson. He has no reputation for grandstanding.

16 months isn't all that long when you factor what evidence is being pursued. Furthermore the disconnect in punishment between the school and the DA could simply be due to what they have at their disposal, as it relates to resources and the law. The police likely took in a stream of eyewitness accounts from the dorm, the alleged suspects, the alleged victim, the 2nd hazed teammate, and a number of others. 5-6 weeks after the incident kids were off campus delaying much of that work. They also probably reviewed medical records, both from that night, and prior to. They probably interviewed nurses, physicians, and others in that field regarding the bilateral labrum tears that victim had and any other injuries sustained. Subpoena's were likely pursued for common area security camera's in the dorm's. Those take a significant period of time. And last but not least, I am guessing they pursued subpoena's for cellphones from the victim and others involved, and maybe even social media accounts like Snapchat for all involved as well. Those take a notoriously long time to get.

My point is 16 months feels long, but when you factor in the number of individuals involved and the locations it took place, and the typical backlog of investigations and cases for Police and DA, it starts to make a little more sense. Its unfortunate. You would hope that you could have a clear answer delivered within a month or so after the complaint.

Ok here is a little context from a case we may remember.  Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were found murdered on June 12, 1994.  O.J. was arrested on June 17, 1994.  The trial began on January 24, 1995.

In Florida---and perhaps some of you Illinois guys can help me out on the law there---had the police opted for an arrest that night speedy trial rules mandate the trial to take place no later than 180 days after arrest for a felony including a life felony or death penalty case.

this is in no way an apples to apples comparison.  First, the Defendant's would have to demand a speedy trial and not take any acts that would toll the time limits.  Second, the time between the incident and charging is really not that big of a deal as to whether these Defendants are guilty or not. The totality of the evidence will decide that.  Third, as to previous posts, though I've had my disagreements with the Dupage County State's Attorney's Office when I was a Defense Attorney, Bob Berlin has an excellent reputation and there are many many fine Prosecutor's working at the office.  It is a very professional office.  I have a very very very hard time believing that they would charge these players with these types of offenses if they didn't think the evidence existed to convict.  Now whether that evidence is all credible and what weight should be attributed to each part of it, is another story and one that will play out through numerous pre-trial motions...and ultimately at trial if this case is resolved by negotiated pleas....on what would likely be reduced or amended charges.  This case has a long long way to go before any of that will happen.
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything
that's even remotely true!"   Homer Simpson.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: Kovo on September 21, 2017, 08:24:45 AM
No 16 months to file charges is a long time.  Sometimes there are reasons, I don't know what those are in this case.

Well, first of all it's really ten months rather than sixteen. I think it's reasonable to deduce that a lot of the time, energy, and manpower that the police devoted to the case was spent on interviewing witnesses, and the vast majority of the witnesses that needed to be interviewed would've been Wheaton students -- recall that the two alleged victims were carried hog-tied and hooded out of the dorm in front of what sounds like a lot of witnesses (the words "root beer kegger", as amusing as they are, indicate a lot of people present in the dorm's public space that night). One thing that, as someone who has followed a CCIW football team for a long time, you ought to know by now is that Wheaton has a Rand-McNally student body; it covers the entire country, and there's actually only a limited number of Wheaton students whose permanent homes are here in Chicagoland. That means that, when school lets out in May, the entire student body disperses to the four winds, which would bring police interviews to a halt for three months.

Second, there were probably a lot of witnesses to get through -- not just the students in the dorm, but also hospital personnel as well.

Third, there was likely a lot of consultation with multiple medical experts as to the cause and severity of the injuries suffered by the alleged victim. This would especially be germane to the two shoulder injuries, for the reasons that AndOne went over yesterday.

Fourth, there may have been forensic evidence that had to be acquired and then examined in labs or by forensic techs -- ropes, pillowcases, automobiles, etc.

Fifth, we can't discount the manpower considerations. I don't know how large the Wheaton Police Department's Investigative Unit is, but, in a police department that consists of 92 employees (including part-time staff and civilians), I can't imagine that there's a plethora of detectives who could just drop everything and work this case.

And, finally, I could see SA Berlin and his ASAs wanting to be very deliberate and exacting before coming forward with charges for a couple of very good reasons -- one, they know that the ramifications of charging the five players with felonies would necessarily mean locking horns with Wheaton College, a respected and heavily-resourced institution in DuPage County, given that Wheaton's put itself on the line by internally adjudicating and administering punishment to the five players in a way that makes the college look very bad if the college got it wrong and law enforcement got it right; and, two, the college already did an internal investigation, plus it hired an outsider investigator to do an independent investigation as well. While, as others have said, the school's two investigations aren't likely to have been as thorough as the WPD's, because they didn't have the law on their side when it came to warrant and subpoena power, it's nevertheless an impediment to the SA that others have gone over the material facts of the case and came to a very different conclusion than the SA's office has. It would stand to reason that this would make the SA be even more deliberate about going over the case with a fine-toothed comb. I'm not one of the 8,000 lawyers that have weighed in here in the CCIW football room  ;), but I do know enough about the way the legal process works to know that prosecutors don't tend to bring cases into the system that they don't think that they can win -- and that's gotta be especially true for elected prosecutors who are contemplating taking on a high-media-profile case that involves naysaying a powerful and highly-respected local institution.

Quote from: Kovo on September 21, 2017, 08:24:45 AMI have no way of knowing whether Mr. Berlin is a great prosecutor or not.  I suppose we will find out.  I am merely suggesting that if this case is not solid he will likely pay a political price (and he should).  And, yes he does not have to accept anyone else's conclusions----but he better be right.

Like I said, the fact that he's directly answerable to the public via the ballot box rather than serving as an appointed underling of state government makes me confident that he's got even more reason to be careful and deliberate in a case like this.

Quote from: Kovo on September 21, 2017, 08:24:45 AMReally, you think a not guilty verdict will clear these guys?!  Just like it did OJ Simpson or Casey Anthony? (I know we all KNOW they were guilty). Only if the case completely falls apart like Duke Lacrosse will they be cleared but even with the Duke players it follows them forever.

Do you know for certain that this case still hinders the lives and careers of the Duke lacrosse players after all this time? Given the fact that they were exonerated, and all of the blame and public ire shifted to Nifong (deservedly so), it doesn't seem likely to me. Indeed, according to a book written about the Duke lacrosse case two years ago, one defendant (Reade Seligmann) graduated from Emory School of Law after finishing his undergraduate degree (and lacrosse career) at Brown; another (David Evans) graduated with an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, which is one of the most prestigious graduate degrees in the business world; and the third (Collin Finnerty) graduated from Loyola (MD) after finishing his lacrosse career there. All three of them won sizable lawsuits against Duke and the city of Durham (they also sued Nifong as well, but he's successfully declared bankruptcy, so they won't squeeze any blood out of that particular stone). I don't know where they are now or what they're doing, but at least in terms of their educations they don't seem to have been permanently derailed at all.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

AndOne

#34744
With regard to recent talk about it taking several months to file charges in DuPage County, a county with a population near 1,000,000 and a huge case log, this information was previously posted by a retired insurance investigator. Someone who worked on many cases in conjunction with not only local police departments but with detectives from the DuPage County Sheriff and with investigators from the office of the DuPage County States Attorney. The "someone" is, of course, myself. And with all due respect, especially to those living in another state and having absolutely no idea of the inner workings of DuPage County government, nobody should be that surprised that this length of time has transpired between the alleged incident and charges being filed-especially when there are 5
co-defendants, a fact which necessitates additional investigative/analysis time.
This does not mean the State has an air tight case nor a flimsy case. Also remember, part of the job of the States Atty is to bring charges if an investigation reveals there is good chance a crime has been committed and to let the due process of the legal system sort out the details and ultimately determine guilt or innocence.

Quote from: AndOne on September 19, 2017, 04:05:46 PM
Quote from: emma17 on September 19, 2017, 03:43:13 PM
I'm not sure if this has been addressed. Why has so much time elapsed between the actual event and the filing of charges? Has the police dept been searching for convictable evidence all this time?

Is it possible an agreement was reached last year and for some reason that agreement was broken?

As was somewhat delineated previously, in a county with the case load as high as DuPage, it can take this amount of time to interview all witnesses, complete reports, have the reports reviewed and a decision made as to what charges will be filed. In this case the accused students, the victim, other students in the dorm at the time of the alleged incident, the students who found the victims, other football players, possibly coaches, probably copies of Wheaton's internal investigation, and hospital personal all needed to be contacted/interviewed/obtained. Hospital records also needed to be obtained and the hospital may have required police to obtain a subpoena before they would release any of their medical reports. Lastly, the States Attorney is going to take his time and be sure he feels he has a pretty strong case before making a final decision to proceed with filing the complaint/charges. All this takes time.

Also, as far as your question about an agreement possibly being broken, this wouldn't happen.
The States Attorney would never make a deal accepting a one football game suspension in place of possible criminal charges, felonies at that, being brought. And, on the minuscule chance that a Plea Agreement was made, my understanding is that it would be illegal to rescind that Agreement unless new evidence was uncovered. Lastly, any in house "agreement" between Wheaton College and the players would not be binding upon the States Attorney office and their possible filing of criminal charges as has now been done.

miac952

#34745
Quote from: Kovo on September 21, 2017, 12:09:48 PM
Ok here is a little context from a case we may remember.  Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were found murdered on June 12, 1994.  O.J. was arrested on June 17, 1994.  The trial began on January 24, 1995.

In Florida---and perhaps some of you Illinois guys can help me out on the law there---had the police opted for an arrest that night speedy trial rules mandate the trial to take place no later than 180 days after arrest for a felony including a life felony or death penalty case.

The prosecution really did well in that OJ trial  ;)

A more applicable comparison might be the University of MN and Michigan State recent football assault cases. Those were both 4-6 months and involved a similar number of parties. Do I think this went longer than normal? Yes. But, this isn't completely unusual. There have been other cases with longer timelines like this. Its not great for the parties involved. But I hope it does at least mean that this was taken very seriously and was thorough. At the end of the day, who knows, the case may have some holes, but they aren't Nifonging this. I think I can use his name as a verb.

(modified by GS for formatting)

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

I think something to consider per the Duke case, the fact they didn't let the investigation have its time to move forward was ultimately its undoing. They rushed to get in front of cameras, allow the media to gobble it all up, and run with it. If they had simply allowed the case to run its course in the background, it may not have resulted in any charges or running wild like it did. I can't remember the exact timing, but it does seem the case unraveled about the time this case may have found its legs. Also, the DA in that case already had a reputation for some questionable decisions, actions, and more. I haven't gotten the sense this DA is anywhere close to the same. More likely he is the same type of DA most are and is handling things as professional as possible.

And comparing it to the Simpson trial is a bit like apples to oranges. That was a murder case that also involved someone famous (rightly or wrongly, certainly up for debate). As tough as this case looks in the charging documents, it isn't a murder case. If police or the DA felt it there was a true danger to society and others, I am quite sure they would have moved faster. They probably felt while the crimes were extreme, that there wasn't a repeat or serial aspect to them. I could be wrong... just trying to read tea leaves. :)
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on September 21, 2017, 01:22:54 PM
I think something to consider per the Duke case, the fact they didn't let the investigation have its time to move forward was ultimately its undoing.

No, that case's undoing was the fact that the alleged victim made a totally false allegation and, thus, there never should've been a case in the first place. Nifong could've waited sixteen months, or sixteen years, before he filed charges and it wouldn't have made Crystal Mangum any less of a liar.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

emma17

Taking time to get the investigation makes perfect sense. It's the amount of time it took in relation to the serious nature of the events that causes me to feel something changed along the way.

AndOne you commented on my belief that perhaps an agreement was reached between all parties last year. Your response was not directly related to my point though.
In order for charges to be brought, my understanding is the victim would have had to file a police report. Isn't it possible the victim, his family, the five players and the university all reached an agreement that would have included the victim agreeing not to file a report?

In my view, it seems far more likely that the reason for such a time lapse is because there was an agreement in place, which was later broken, thus resulting in a police report being filed "quite a while" after the event took place. The fact that 1 million people live in DuPage and thus there is too much work to be done seems less likely to be the reason this case wasn't moved along much sooner. 

According to one of the articles, on the night of the event, the victim "spoke with police officers later that night". I'm not sure what that means?

AndOne

#34749
Quote from: emma17 on September 21, 2017, 01:45:49 PM
Taking time to get the investigation makes perfect sense. It's the amount of time it took in relation to the serious nature of the events that causes me to feel something changed along the way.

AndOne you commented on my belief that perhaps an agreement was reached between all parties last year. Your response was not directly related to my point though.
In order for charges to be brought, my understanding is the victim would have had to file a police report. Isn't it possible the victim, his family, the five players and the university all reached an agreement that would have included the victim agreeing not to file a report?

In my view, it seems far more likely that the reason for such a time lapse is because there was an agreement in place, which was later broken, thus resulting in a police report being filed "quite a while" after the event took place. The fact that 1 million people live in DuPage and thus there is too much work to be done seems less likely to be the reason this case wasn't moved along much sooner. 

According to one of the articles, on the night of the event, the victim "spoke with police officers later that night". I'm not sure what that means?

Emma,

No, it's not possible. Possibly for 2 reasons.
The certain reason - When the victim was taken to the hospital, a nurse or nurses became concerned over the bruising on his body and questioned him about it. Supposedly he broke down and, after initially being reluctant to do so, told the nurses that he had been beaten. They then called the police who immediately came to the hospital and began their investigation.
A 2nd possible reason - I believe it is the law that if a college becomes aware of any form of physical violence they are required to report it to authorities. If they don't the administrators/college can be charged with withholding information/hindering prosecution. They are not required to report incidents of simple hazing. However, the victim's injuries were not consistent with an incident of simple or playful hazing, and his subsequent remarks about being beaten cemented the fact that the college would then be legally prevented from not reporting the incident to the police. This possibility did not come into play because it had already been reported by the ER personnel.

With regard to the population and how it relates to work flow, like many businesses the States Atty's is often understaffed. Assistant States Attorneys often leave for more lucrative positions with private firms. Also, they may not have enough investigators who coordinate interviewing witnesses and fact/evidence gathering with the local police departments. This naturally often results in some form of delay. And don't forget that on this case they were looking at five people, not just one or two.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 21, 2017, 01:39:23 PM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on September 21, 2017, 01:22:54 PM
I think something to consider per the Duke case, the fact they didn't let the investigation have its time to move forward was ultimately its undoing.

No, that case's undoing was the fact that the alleged victim made a totally false allegation and, thus, there never should've been a case in the first place. Nifong could've waited sixteen months, or sixteen years, before he filed charges and it wouldn't have made Crystal Mangum any less of a liar.

That is actually my point. If the investigation had continued even not under the spotlight, I suspect that fact would have still been discovered by investigators. But the rush to do something, be ahead of the story by the DA, and to look good in the "community" ended up taking a much different road. I agree it shouldn't have been a case. If investigators had the chance to review the case without a rush to show something or to announce charges before everything was vetted, I think the outcome would have been the same without the same fanfare.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

emma17

Quote from: AndOne on September 21, 2017, 02:05:38 PM
Quote from: emma17 on September 21, 2017, 01:45:49 PM
Taking time to get the investigation makes perfect sense. It's the amount of time it took in relation to the serious nature of the events that causes me to feel something changed along the way.

AndOne you commented on my belief that perhaps an agreement was reached between all parties last year. Your response was not directly related to my point though.
In order for charges to be brought, my understanding is the victim would have had to file a police report. Isn't it possible the victim, his family, the five players and the university all reached an agreement that would have included the victim agreeing not to file a report?

In my view, it seems far more likely that the reason for such a time lapse is because there was an agreement in place, which was later broken, thus resulting in a police report being filed "quite a while" after the event took place. The fact that 1 million people live in DuPage and thus there is too much work to be done seems less likely to be the reason this case wasn't moved along much sooner. 

According to one of the articles, on the night of the event, the victim "spoke with police officers later that night". I'm not sure what that means?

Emma,

No, it's not possible. Possibly for 2 reasons.
The certain reason - When the victim was taken to the hospital, a nurse or nurses became concerned over the bruising on his body and questioned him about it. Supposedly he broke down and, after initially being reluctant to do so, told the nurses that he had been beaten. They then called the police who immediately came to the hospital and began their investigation.
A 2nd possible reason - I believe it is the law that if a college becomes aware of any form of physical violence they are required to report it to authorities. If they don't the administrators/college can be charged with withholding information/hindering prosecution. They are not required to report incidents of simple hazing. However, the victim's injuries were not consistent with an incident of simple or playful hazing, and his subsequent remarks about being beaten cemented the fact that the college would then be legally prevented from not reporting the incident to the police. This possibility did not come into play because it had already been reported by the ER personnel.

With regard to the population and how it relates to work flow, like many businesses the States Atty's is often understaffed. Assistant States Attorneys often leave for more lucrative positions with private firms. Also, they may not have enough investigators who coordinate interviewing witnesses and fact/evidence gathering with the local police departments. This naturally often results in some form of delay. And don't forget that on this case they were looking at five people, not just one or two.

You raise a good point, but I don't see how it's "impossible" that an agreement was reached based on your "certain reason". In your "certain reason" explanation, you didn't say the victim actually filed a police report. Do you know for sure he filed a police report? Isn't it possible he gave details to the police but hesitated to file a formal complaint (if this is the correct wording)? What if the police said "hey, these are serious charges you're making that could result in prison time for those guys", causing the victim to take time to think of other options?
Couldn't one of those options have been a financial settlement? 


augie77

Ah, the root beer kegger....This is an annual event going back many years.  The fifth floor of Traber Dormitory (T-5) annually hosts this mega event, that draws students from all over campus.  In addition to root beer, there is a splash pad, nerf ball tournaments, and entertainment of many kinds.  Basically each dorm room on the floor is transformed into a separate entertainment venue.  I believe they even issue tickets, carnival style, to partake in the events.  My son was on T-5 his freshman year (2011), so I'm well aware what a production this is.

That said, one can figure that most everyone was on 5th floor, and only a hand full of holdouts (including the victim, apparently) would be in their rooms, or even in the lobby.  This may explain why there seemingly were few witnesses to the alleged incident.  It also makes sense that the football players knowingly chose this time to perpetrate their prank turned criminal charge, assuring few witnesses.  Unless he was part of T-5??  The atmosphere could easily have obscured such a thing, as in "the night's craziness continues...."

AndOne

#34753
Emma,

I believe there are certain crimes that once reported have to be pursued. If there were no injuries at all or no serious injuries, he probably could have told the police to forget it. I'm not sure if the police, after seeing the degree of injuries could just let it be dropped. Another thing to remember about this case is that the charged offenses are felonies as opposed to misdemeanors. It would not be surprising if misdemeanors could be dropped at the victim's discretion, but that felonies have to be investigated and prosecuted.
But let's say it could be ended at that point and was. The College would then still have been required to report it to police. It's a state law that if a college becomes aware of any violent injuries sustained by a student, that they have to report it. They have/would have had no choice. 
I hope that gives you closure with regard to your question.  :)

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: AndOne on September 21, 2017, 03:15:34 PM
Emma,

I believe there are certain crimes that once reported have to be pursued. If there were no injuries at all or no serious injuries, he probably could have told the police to forget it. I'm not sure if the police, after seeing the degree of injuries could just let it be dropped. Another thing to remember about this case is that the charged offenses are felonies as opposed to misdemeanors. It would not be surprising if misdemeanors could be dropped at the victim's discretion, but that felonies have to be investigated and prosecuted.
But let's say it could be ended at that point and was. The College would then still have been required to report it to police. It's a state law that if a college becomes aware of any violent injuries sustained by a student, that they have to report it. They have/would have had no choice. 
I hope that gives you closure with regard to your question.  :)

That last part is actually a bit of a tricky question. Hazing is NOT required to be reported under federal laws to report crimes. There is actually a bill being considered in the US Senate, I believe, that would change that and require hazing to be reported. However, it is not part of the report colleges have to put together as of right now. Yes, assault has to be reported because ... well ... it is assault. So, here is the question: would classifying this as hazing allow the college (any college) to avoid reporting it? Then to follow up: now that police have charged individuals with assault, does that mean the college must now report it?

Basically what I am trying to get at... I am not convinced since this was clearly handled as a hazing incident (per the fact police still used the term hazing) that it would have been part of the college's federal crime report. I am also unsure how to determine that (I am sure someone like Sager or others knows where those are possibly found).
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.