The Durham Police Department exonerated senior Eric Halperin less than a month after he was arrested and charged with trafficking marijuana and possession of marijuana with the intent to sell, but his name always will remain under a cloud of suspicion on the world's largest stage: the World Wide Web.
A Google search of the key words "Eric Halperin" and "Duke" returns dozens of links related to the charges, ranging from news articles charting the course of the case to blogs sounding off on DPD's handling of the investigation.
"On the Internet, the fact of this charge is indelible and will never be erased," said Bill Thomas, Halperin's lawyer. "There's an old adage, 'Where do I go to get my reputation back?' The answer is there's no place you can go."
Thomas said the charges could affect Halperin's immediate future as he decides where he will attend law school. Applicants to graduate and professional schools are required to disclose any criminal charges filed against them, even if they have been dropped.
Halperin said he had applied and been accepted to several law schools at the time of his arrest. He declined to confirm whether he has since notified the institutions of his criminal record.
"[The charges are] not going to go away," Halperin said in an interview with The Chronicle March 25. "They're jeopardizing my chances of getting into law school... and my future profession."
William Hoye, associate dean for admissions and financial aid at the School of Law, said he receives applications each year from individuals who have been charged with felonies. When deciding whether to admit these students, Hoye said the circumstances of the crime are carefully considered, but a charge in and of itself usually will not prevent an applicant from being admitted.
"Most applicants who get into trouble with this sort of thing in the admissions process are those who fail to disclose," Hoye said. "The lack of honesty is what gets them into trouble, rarely the actual incident itself. For this reason, we always recommend that the applicants err on the side of full disclosure."
Hoye added that the charges filed against Halperin could pose another hurdle when he applies for membership to a bar association after he has obtained a law degree. Bar associations subject candidates to thorough background checks, and an individual could be denied a license to practice law even if his record is pardoned by a law school, Hoye said.
Halperin will not be the only Duke graduate explaining false accusations in the coming months. Last year DPD arrested a then-junior for drug trafficking and the attempted sale and distribution of marijuana only to drop all charges just over a week later. The student declined to comment for this story.
In light of the University's conduct during the lacrosse case and suspension of the student charged last year immediately following the arrest, Thomas said he was not optimistic that Duke would stand by his client. He added that he was pleasantly surprised when the University did not suspend Halperin during the investigation, despite the fact that he had been charged with a felony.
"The University now understands the basic principles relating to the presumption of innocence," Thomas said.
Thomas cited the experiences of his client, the student charged last year and another Duke student-who was suspected of drug possession but never formally charged-as evidence that DPD should rethink its investigation procedures. Thomas said DPD charged the students before amassing sufficient evidence, without regard for the impact of a hasty arrest on their futures.
"The power to arrest is a tremendous power, but it also has a corresponding duty to investigate thoroughly before exercising that power," he said. "In this respect, [DPD] has failed. We have now had three innocent students dragged out of their residences in handcuffs, and I certainly hope that this does not happen to any other students."
DPD officials could not be reached for comment on their handling of the cases.
When Halperin leaves the Gothic Wonderland in May, Thomas said there is little he can do to help him minimize the impact of the accusations on Halperin's future.
"The only advice you can give to a young man like that is to hold your head high and tell the truth, and that's what he's doing," Thomas said.
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