According to court documents, twelve of the fifteen students from Salisbury University who were charged with assaulting and beating a guy in Maryland due to his sexual orientation had their first-degree assault and hate crime charges dropped.
According to Salisbury police, all 15 students were arrested last month for allegedly enticing a man into an off-campus residence on October 15 under false pretenses, then hitting, kicking, spitting on, and calling him nasty insults.
According to authorities, the 18–21-year-old students were first charged with a number of offenses, including first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment, and related hate crimes.
Twelve of the accused students have had their felony first-degree assault charge reduced to a misdemeanor second-degree assault charge as of Sunday, according to court documents, and are only being charged with false imprisonment.
Riley Brister, 20, Ryder Baker, 20, Cruz Cespedes, 19, Dylan Earp, 20, Cameron Guy, 18, Jacob Howard, 19, Eric Sinclair, 21, Patrick Gutierrez, 19, Dylan Pietuszka, 20, Sean Antone, 19, and Benjamin Brandenburg, 18 are among them.
After a preliminary hearing last week, the remaining charges against them—which included reckless endangerment and hate crimes—were withdrawn.
In a statement to NBC News on Sunday, the Maryland state’s attorney’s office for Wicomico County said, “We have charged as appropriate based on a review of the evidence gathered so far during the course of the investigation.” We are unable to say further at this time due to the ongoing criminal prosecution.
In an email to NBC News, Steve Rakow, the lawyer for one of the students, Brister, stated that although the allegations were serious, this was never a hate crime and most definitely was not a felony first-degree assault.
Rakow went on: My client continues to insist on his innocence. If the state offers a plea in this matter, we will consider it and decide whether to accept the plea or proceed with a trial.
NBC News was unable to ascertain right away whether the other students in the case have legal representation.
Brister and nine of the other kids were set to go on trial in the Wicomico County District Court on January 29.The same court scheduled Antone’s and Pietuszka’s trials for January 23 and 24, respectively.
The cases of two other students were sent to the Circuit Court of Wicomico County. These are Elijah Johnson, 19, and Zachary Leinemann, 18. According to court documents, they are still facing false imprisonment and hate crime accusations even though their charges of reckless endangerment and assault were withdrawn and lowered, respectively.
The first court hearings for Leinemann and Johnson are set for January 3.
According to court documents, Logan Clark, 19, is still charged with two counts of first-degree assault and another act of second-degree assault. He is also facing accusations of hate crime, false imprisonment, and reckless endangerment. Thursday is the day of his preliminary hearing.
A representative for Salisbury University informed NBC News in a statement on Sunday that the students who are being charged in the alleged incident are still on temporary suspension.
According to the statement, Salisbury University is still keeping an eye on these instances as the legal system’s due process is carried out. We are still dedicated to keeping our workplaces, students, and the community at large safe and friendly.
According to Salisbury police, the university’s campus police called them on October 31 regarding a reported assault at a college-age student off-campus housing complex last month.
According to a news release from police on November 7, detectives who spoke with witnesses viewed cellphone footage purportedly depicting an adult male victim being beaten by multiple college-aged individuals.
According to the announcement, detectives also talked with the victim and discovered that on October 15, a group of males invited her to a house under false pretenses using a social media account. Police said that when the victim arrived, a large group of college-aged men encircled him and made him sit in a chair that was isolated in the center of the living room.
According to the authorities, the victim was seated with force and allegedly kicked, punched, and spat on while the males called him abusive things. The victim informed investigators that the gang threw him to the ground despite his repeated attempts to withdraw.
According to the police, the attack lasted for a few minutes until he was given permission to depart. The victim reported that in addition to having bruises and a broken rib, he sought medical assistance.
According to investigators, the victim was singled out because of his sexual orientation.
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