Although jury members in last Sunday's open honor trial found Stephanie Garrison guilty of the act and intent to lie, the jury determined the lie was not serious enough to merit conviction of an honor offense. Garrison was accused of lying on a University Judiciary Committee sanction form.
Three jury members spoke to The Cavalier Daily for this story.
Graduate student Guoging Zhang said all 10 jurors thought Garrison had lied and most were in agreement that it was not serious.
"No one wants to see someone expelled from the University for something like that," Zhang added.
Second-year College student Katie Manning said she thought Garrison's act was not serious because she intended to complete the sanctions assigned to her by the UJC.
"If everybody signed a form like that and intended to complete the sanctions they were assigned, that wouldn't compromise the community of trust," Manning said.
Manning added she did not consider the single sanction when making her decision.
"I don't think single sanction played a role in deliberation," Manning said.
Manning did say some jurors had a problem defining "seriousness."
"It would have been easier to make up my mind on if it was serious if she had cheated on a test," Manning said.
Second-year Architecture student Steven Johnson said there were some things done by UJC that influenced the decision.
"They probably need to look at internal documents to tighten the process," Johnson said.
UJC Chair Raleigh Anne Blank said any time a discrepancy emerges in the sanction completion process it goes before the Executive Committee.
"You want to make sure you are making a solid decision and discuss [the matter] among all nine [executive committee members]," Blank said.
Blank added Garrison had served UJC as a first-year judge and later as a counselor. First-year judges are trained intensively by a vice chair of the committee.
"When you are a judge you have to learn about every position and their capacity" in UJC, Blank added.
Scott Jones served as senior counselor for the executive committee that passed Garrison's case on to Honor. He was a non-voting member.
"Ms. Garrison was a member of UJC for two and a half years when the issue in question arose," Jones said. "And I personally feel that a member of UJC should have known what was and was not acceptable in terms of changing sanctions and attesting completion on a sanction completion form when the sanction, in actuality, had, ostensibly, only been scheduled."
After the trial Honor Committee members expressed concern about how extensive coverage of this open trial might have influenced the jury.
Vice Chair for Trials Jay Trickett said he thought The Cavalier Daily's coverage was a "disservice to the community."
Some members of the jury disputed this account. Manning said she read one of the articles in The Cavalier Daily but did not think it influenced her decision in any way.
Read More
Class of 2024 celebrates graduation at final exercises
By Finn Trainer | 4 days agoIn his opening remarks, University President Jim Ryan praised the graduating class for their resilience during challenging times.
U.Va. Alumni Association submits plans for new Alumni Hall building
By Caroline Hagood | 6 days agoWest said that despite the proposal moving through City Council’s review process, the project is still years away from becoming a reality.
Graduating student leaders reflect on how they impacted the University community
By Jackie Bond and Brandon Kile | May 18, 2024According to Lilian Rojas, Board of Visitors student representative and fourth-year Batten student, the Class of 2024 is defined by its resilience.
