Robert Champion was to blame for his own hazing death, FAMU says
Florida A&M University is not responsible for the death of drum major Robert Champion, who -- as an adult -- must bear responsibility for his decision to undergo the hazing ritual that led to his death, the university argues in a response to a wrongful death suit in the case.
In papers filed on Monday night, the school maintains that Champion, 26, was legally responsible for his own death. He was beaten in November by other members of the Marching 100, the university’s famed band, during a hazing rite. Champion died after a football game in a charter bus parked outside an Orlando hotel.
Twelve former members of the group have been charged with felonies in the case, which also led to the forced retirement of the band’s director and later the departure of the president of the school, Florida’s only public, historically black university.
“No public university or college has a legal duty to protect an adult student from the result of their own decision to participate in a dangerous activity while off-campus and after retiring from university-sponsored events,” states the document prepared by Richard E. Mitchell, an attorney with the GrayRobinson law firm hired by FAMU.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-famu-hazing-robert-champion-20120911,0,564341.story