|
 A jury convicted percussionist Dante Martin, 27, for his role in a
November 2011 ritual involving the Florida A&M University's
celebrated "Marching 100" band that led to the death of Robert
Champion, a 26-year-old drum major.
"Now he has to pay for what he has done. I won't get my son back,"
his mother, Pamela Champion, told reporters. "No one wins here."
The case forced the university to address a hazing culture in its
marching band, which has performed at the Super Bowl, Grammy Awards
and presidential inaugurations. The band was suspended for more than
a year and a half, returning to the field in the fall of 2013.
During the trial, witnesses detailed the ritual known as "Crossing
Bus C," in which participants were kicked, punched, whipped and hit
with drum mallets while making their way from the front to the back
of the percussionists' travel bus.
 A medical examiner found Champion died of hemorrhagic shock from
blunt force trauma after running the gauntlet on the darkened
charter bus.
Champion died onboard the bus, which was bringing the band to
Orlando for a football game between Florida A&M and another
historically black university. At halftime, the two schools' bands
competed during popular, jazz-inspired shows.
Prosecutor Jeff Ashton said he hoped the conviction sends a message
to anyone thinking of hazing.
"If you do it and something goes wrong, you're going to be
responsible for it," Ashton told reporters after the jury quickly
returned a guilty verdict.
[to top of second column] |
After the verdict, Martin was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9.
Under Florida guidelines, he faces nine to 22 years in jail, said
David Weinstein, a former state prosecutor now in private practice
in Miami.
Martin's attorneys said they plan to seek a mistrial.
Martin, the percussion section president, was the first of 14 band
members charged in the incident to go on trial. Nine others received
probation and community service in plea deals, and one was sentenced
to almost a year in jail.
Three others are scheduled for trial next year.
(Reporting by Barbara Liston in Orlando and David Adams in Miami;
Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Chris Reese, David Gregorio,
Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
