The 17 students arrested for trespassing at Madison Hall after staging a sit-in protest April 15 were found not guilty in General District Court yesterday. Anthropology Prof. Wende Marshall was found guilty of trespassing and received a sentence of 10 days in prison, which was suspended pending two years of good behavior.
The verdict was handed down by Judge Robert Downer, Jr. who concluded that the protestors were not given the five minutes promised to them by University Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge to decide between leaving the building voluntarily, accepting a summons or being arrested.
"Five minutes means five minutes," Downer said, after weighing evidence which included a videotape of Sandridge speaking to the protesting students in the minutes leading up to the arrests and footage of the arrests.
Asst. Commonwealth's Attorney Claude Worrell told the judge that the students actively sought arrest while defense attorney Steve Rosenfield argued that the students were not given the full five minutes promised to them by Sandridge.
The students staged a sit-in in the administrative building from the morning of April 12 until their arrest at approximately 7pm on April 15, the Saturday before Easter, in an effort to demonstrate their support for the implementation of what they term a "living wage" of $10.72 an hour for all University employees. The administration has maintained that it cannot legally implement this wage.
President Casteen, who testified at the trial, said in an e-mail that he had no reaction to the proceedings. He added that he was pleased the students did not incur a criminal record.
"I do not know what evidence was presented other than what I gave, and I do not know the judge's reasoning," Casteen said. "In that we do not want students to accumulate criminal convictions in the course of their time here, we are glad for them."
Rosenfield applauded the students' continued support for workers throughout the criminal proceedings.
"What was great about representing [these students] was that the focus was always on the workers," said Rosenfield.
An appeal of Marshall's conviction is "highly likely," Rosenfield added.
According to University spokesperson Carol Wood, the students' acquittal will facilitate their continued dialogue with administrators.
"No one at the University took any joy in seeing our students arrested and we believe that today's decision will give all involved the opportunity to move forward," Wood said. "I think we've consistently said that we want to put an adversarial relationship aside, and want to be partners with students."
Wood added that the University's position concerning the living wage has not changed in light of today's verdicts.
The acquitted students were fourth-year College students Shawn Casey, Carmen Comsti, Lauren Cruickshank, Lauren Jones, Sam Kroiz, Hannah Rubenstein, Katrina Salmons, and Khalial Withen; third-year College students Sean Butterfield, Seth Croft, Zack Fields and Jillian Villars; and second-year College students Teresa Daniels, Andrew Mausert-Mooney, Nina Robbins, John Salidis, and Kevin Simowitz.
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