Alexander "Sandy" Kory offered to drop all University Judiciary Committee charges and to release all civil claims against Richard Smith, Harrison Kerr Tigrett and Bradley Kintz in exchange for $500,000, according to a May 5 letter from Kory's attorney, Lloyd Snook.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Cavalier Daily, was sent to Smith's attorney, Francis McQ. Lawrence, before a fact-finding panel reviewed the assault case involving the four University students.
Smith, Kintz and Tigrett never responded to Kory's offer and were suspended from the University the week of June 6 by President John T. Casteen III for their part in the Nov. 21, 1997 assault on Kory above the Ruffner Footbridge.
Kory sustained a broken jaw during the incident and has said he incurred about $3,000 in medical costs.
According to Snook's letter, Kory would have dropped the case before the fact-finding panel could review the matter.
UJC Chairman Brian Hudak said a complainant can drop charges at any time during the process.
"The complainant has complete preference in pressing the case," Hudak said.
He said that according to the Committee's constitution, charges must be filed within 45 days after the identity of the offenders is known.
If the 45 days has elapsed, as in the Kory v. Smith, et al. case, "if the complainant dropped [the charges] then no one else could re-file the charges," he added.
Smith said Kory was using the UJC case as leverage to win money.
Kory "is not even after me, he's after my dad," he said.
Smith's father is Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express.
"Had I paid [Kory] half a million dollars, there would be no rally," Smith said.
Smith said the University's student body was "easily misguided" when they rallied on the Lawn in April in support of his expulsion.
"I hope they feel stupid," he said.
But Snook, who said he was angered about the settlement offer being made public, said Kory's offer was in response to a settlement invitation from Lawrence, a claim Smith denies.
"They invited us to make a demand. I made a demand and they ignored it," Snook said. "They invited a global settlement offer."
But Smith said he "never once approached to settle."
Snook said Smith's camp never responded to Kory's settlement offer.
"Not even a 'Go to hell,'" he said.
"I assume they have no intention whatsoever to settle," Snook said. "I think the invitation wasn't ever made in good faith. I think it was a set up from the very beginning to make us look bad."
Smith said that if he were not from a prominent family, his case would not have garnered so much attention.
The saga involving the three students has sparked uproar from the student body, culminating in a rally on the Lawn in April calling for their expulsion.
The judiciary proceedings against Smith, Kintz and Tigrett began when they were expelled by the UJC Nov. 21. They then appealed their expulsion verdict to the Judicial Review Board and were granted a new trial.
But a UJC retrial scheduled for April 17 was postponed after the trial chairwoman recused herself from the case and the three student prosecutors resigned in fear of lawsuits.
The Committee then voted to send the case to William W. Harmon, vice president for student affairs.
Harmon appointed a panel that heard the case May 17 and issued its sanction recommendations to Casteen.
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