A panel of 12 students found former College student Stephanie Garrison not guilty of lying about the completion of University Judiciary Committee-imposed sanctions in an open honor trial held yesterday.
Although the jury found Garrison guilty of act and intent to lie, they found the instance of lying was not serious, according to trial chair A-J Aronstein. The jury deliberated for two and a half hours, half of which was spent discussing act and intent and the remainder of which was devoted to evaluating seriousness.
Despite the extensive debate over seriousness, Aronstein said the jury was not focused on the single sanction.
"In the context of this trial I don't believe that consideration of single sanction played a role in the verdict," Aronstein said.
The trial was an appeal of an earlier verdict rendered at a Jan. 22 trial. The case began when Garrison was given several sanctions by the UJC after she pled guilty to violating a Standard of Conduct during an underage drinking incident in March 2005. The subsequent UJC hearing panel resulted in the assignment of sanctions. She was assigned to complete "Choices," a five-hour alcohol education class; to complete several hours of SafeRide duty and to have a consultation with Dr. Rick Heisterman of the Counseling and Psychological Services office.
A focal point of Garrison's defense was that her confusion about completing the sanctions stemmed from the lack of an engaged post-trial UJC educator. UJC officials disputed the post-trial role of a UJC educator.
Garrison completed the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, a 12-hour alcohol education class, during July 2006. This class was assigned at her Albemarle County criminal proceedings.
Prior to the UJC hearing panel, Garrison's counsel Scott Jones submitted a letter which stated she had already been assigned VASAP and had enrolled in a "Choices" course. Garrison said she thought the VASAP class was an acceptable substitute for "Choices."
Garrison also said she did not meet with Heisterman, the doctor assigned to her in a UJC sanction letter. She said she visited Heisterman's office, was told he was out of town and received counseling from another staff member at CAPS.
According to Gavin Reddick, UJC vice chair for sanctions, Garrison told him she had actually visited Hesiterman himself. Confusion also resulted in the process of scheduling Garrison's SafeRide hours, which were originally double-booked. After rescheduling, she was assigned shifts that occurred after her sanction form was due.
Eugene Sandridge, a security officer with the University Police Department who often drives a SafeRide van, said in an interview with Honor investigators that double bookings "could happen very easily."
Garrison submitted a signed sanction form to UJC before these hours were completed.
Reddick said the form was submitted late, after he sent Garrison several e-mails and a letter through registered mail requesting the signed form.
Reddick added he became suspicious when there were no signatures from sanction coordinators on the sanction completion form Garrison submitted.
"Most people complete the form and most people seem to have completed their sanctions," Reddick said. "I'm so used to it after a period of time. ... I follow it if anything seems suspicious."
The UJC Executive Committee then made the decision to turn the case over to the Honor Committee with Reddick as the official reporter.
In her January trial, Garrison was found guilty of lying by a panel of nine students. She submitted an appeal and was told May 5 she had been granted a new trial.
"The purpose of an appeal is to remedy any problems that were created by the Honor Committee," Honor Chair Alison Tramba said, adding that she thinks the appeals process demonstrates "our willingness to talk about the way our procedure works. No system is perfect but if a problem is created, we are willing to correct that."
During yesterday's trial, co-counsels for the community Ariel Alberti and Josh Hess argued that while misunderstandings were possible, it was unreasonable to believe that Garrison had been confused about how to complete all three of her sanctions.
"We should ask ourselves, 'Is it reasonably possible that Stephanie Garrison believed she was telling the truth?'" Hess asked the jury panel during closing arguments.
Co-counsels for the accused Elena Coyle and Ben Sachs contended that the case should have remained in UJC.
"Honor is not the place for this," Sachs said. "There was no deception. There was no lie."
Garrison's family also attended the trial. Sarita Garrison said she felt relief after her daughter's verdict but also called the proceedings "sad."
"She loved this school and you can ask anyone she knows," Sarita Garrison said.
Stephanie Garrison's father James Garrison encouraged the University to "assert administrative and faculty presence" into the system.
Following the verdict, Stephanie Garrison's father confronted Reddick.
According to Reddick, James Garrison hit him on the shoulder and slammed down on him while "saying something like, 'I hope you die for what you've done to me and my family and what you've put us through.' Obviously it all happened very quickly, then some other people came down and I was able to go into the UJC office."
James Garrison declined to comment about the altercation but did say he wants to "have Gavin Reddick removed from vice chair for sanctions because clearly he doesn't show good judgment."
Although Stephanie Garrison walked the Lawn last spring, she was not eligible to receive a diploma at that time. According to Tramba, the Honor Committee will now notify the registrar's office that the hold on Garrison's diploma has been removed and the office will be able to confer a diploma on Garrison.
Aronstein said he encourages students to engage in debates about Honor following yesterday's proceedings.
"We hope, as always, that an open trial sheds lights on our processes and that students will take this opportunity to make both the institution and the idea of honor a topic of debate and discussion in the coming months," Aronstein added.
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