Three Duke students charged with assaulting a North Carolina Central University student March 30 were acquitted May 6 in Durham County District Court.
Judge Ann McKown found former Duke Student Government President Joshua Jean-Baptiste, Trinity '03, former DSG Treasurer John Njoku, Trinity '03, and all-ACC wrestler Michael Mitchell, a senior, not guilty of misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury. Jean-Baptiste and Njoku participated in graduation ceremonies Sunday.
The Herald-Sun of Durham reported May 7 that McKown attributed the ruling to a lack of evidence against the defendants.
"This is not because I found everything credible, because that is certainly not the case," McKown said in her ruling, according to The Herald-Sun. "But based on the burden of proof, the plaintiff could not prove [the charges] beyond a reasonable doubt."
None of the defendants could be reached for comment.
NCCU senior Rashan Crumpton, who filed the charges against the three Duke students, said he was disappointed with the ruling.
"None of my witnesses showed up. I don't know why," he said. "The case was handled pretty badly because it was pretty much them against me again, and it shouldn't have been."
Crumpton's witnesses would have been several Duke students and employees who witnessed the March 30 beating.
According to The Herald-Sun, Jean-Baptiste's lawyer said her client was exhilarated that justice had been served. "Hopefully the students will get on with their lives," she said.
Njoku will still face charges later this month pertaining to the incident: false imprisonment, assault on a female and interference with emergency communications in the incident.
Kacie Wallace, associate dean for judicial affairs, said the Undergraduate Judicial Board is still working through the three students' cases, despite their acquittals in District Court.
"We run our own process regardless of what the outcome in the criminal process is," Wallace said. "We have different policies, different definitions, different standards of conduct that we investigate."
Although Wallace is prohibited from commenting on individual judicial cases, she noted that students found responsible for disorderly conduct or fighting can face anything from probation and community service to suspension or expulsion.
Crumpton testified in court that he and Mitchell had fought briefly at a March 30 party after the National Pan-Hellenic Council step show in the Great Hall, according to The Herald-Sun. Duke Police officers escorted the two outside and asked that Crumpton leave the campus.
Crumpton testified that later that evening he returned with his girlfriend, a Duke student, to her dorm in Edens Quadrangle. Crumpton said that when he saw Jean-Baptiste and Mitchell in Edens, Mitchell tried to instigate another fight.
"I said [to Jean-Baptiste and Mitchell], 'I got something in the [car] trunk,'" Crumpton testified, saying he implied he had a gun because he felt threatened. He added that he never had a gun, according to The Herald-Sun.
Crumpton testified that the fight broke out after Jean-Baptiste threw a beer can at him and Mitchell began to punch him. Crumpton said Mitchell, Jean-Baptiste and Njoku - all members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity - repeatedly kicked and hit him in his chest, back, arms and face for several minutes while he lay on the ground.
The three Duke students testified that Njoku and Jean-Baptiste did not punch or kick Crumpton, although Jean-Baptiste admitted to throwing his beer at Crumpton, a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at NCCU. Mitchell and Jean-Baptiste also testified that they thought Crumpton had a gun - a factor Mitchell's attorney said justified Mitchell's use of force.
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