Question: If you were Jameis Winston, facing a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday,

orientalnc

orientalnc

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would you stay on the FSU football team and expose yourself to huge financial damages, or withdraw from FSU prior to the hearing?
 

a5ehren

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Jameis is bringing a big-time defense attorney in to a student government disciplinary hearing.

They'll show up, the lawyer will immediately annihilate their case due to having 50 paralegals combing the FSU student code of conduct for any loophole, and then they'll leave. Only way this takes more than 15 minutes is if Jameis stays after to sign autographs for the "judge".
 

Animal02

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a5ehren said:
Jameis is bringing a big-time defense attorney in to a student government disciplinary hearing.

They'll show up, the lawyer will immediately annihilate their case due to having 50 paralegals combing the FSU student code of conduct for any loophole, and then they'll leave. Only way this takes more than 15 minutes is if Jameis stays after to sign autographs for the "judge".
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http://srr.fsu.edu/Student-Conduct-Code/General-Provisions-and-Hearing-Procedures
6. Hearing. Hearings will follow these guidelines:

a. All hearings will be fair and impartial and will use a reasonable person standard when assessing whether the information presented constitutes a preponderance of the evidence. A charged student may submit a challenge to the impartiality of any member of a hearing body to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities or the hearing body. Decisions on challenges shall be final and not subject to appeal.

b. A charged student will have the opportunity to present evidence on his or her behalf, including presenting witnesses, if available, and/or signed, written statements from witnesses, and other documentary evidence. Witness testimony is not required and the inability of the charged student to question a witness who has provided a written statement is not a violation of the due process rights of the charged student, as the charged student has the opportunity to review and respond to the written statement and may offer evidence to rebut the witness statement and other evidence presented at the hearing. Witness statements are entitled to be given the same weight by the hearing body as live witness testimony. Witness statements need not be sworn or in affidavit form.

c. The charged student, complainant, and any witnesses may be accompanied during the hearing by an advisor. According to FSU Regulation 6C2R-3.006, the Student Defender may serve as an advisor. Students are required to address the hearing body in person, on their own behalf, although they may consult with their advisor during the hearing. This consultation must take place in a manner that does not disrupt the proceedings. The advisor shall not speak on behalf of the student unless expressly authorized to do so by the hearing body. The charged student, complainant, and any witnesses shall provide the advisor’s name in writing to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities or University Housing two (2) class days prior to the hearing. The advisor may not serve as a witness.

d. A student may choose not to answer any and all questions posed by a hearing body.

e. The burden of proof at a first-level hearing always rests with the University. The standard of proof will be the preponderance of the evidence, meaning that the evidence, as a whole, shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not.

f. The formal rules of evidence do not apply to Student Conduct Code proceedings.

g. All individual hearings will be conducted in private. If the charged student wants to have the hearing open, the charged student must submit a written request for a public hearing to the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities or University Housing at least three class days prior to the hearing. Charges involving alleged sexual misconduct will not be heard in public without prior written consent of all complainants. After receiving the consent of all complainants in the case, the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities may open the hearing to the public. If the hearing is made public, there is no requirement to obtain a larger hearing room to accommodate members of the public, so long as one (1) member of the public may be present.

h. Appropriate witnesses will be called by the University to all formal hearings (see below for a description of formal versus informal hearings). Those witnesses who appear may be cross-examined by the charged student. If called witnesses do not appear, their written or taped statements may be considered by the hearing body. In some cases, student witnesses who fail to appear may be charged with a violation of the Student Conduct Code. Appropriate witnesses may also be called by the charged student to all hearings, provided they are reasonably available and do not disrupt or delay the hearing. In the event a witness is not reasonably available or the witness’s presence may disrupt the hearing, a written statement from the witness may be substituted. Witness statements need not be sworn or in affidavit form.

i. Hearings may be held in the charged student's absence if the charged student fails to appear after proper notice or fails to cooperate in the Student Conduct Code process.

j. Prior records of student conduct action and witness/complainant impact statements are considered by the hearing body only in the sanctioning phase of deliberations.

k. The hearing body's determination of "responsible" or "not responsible" will be based solely on the information presented at the hearing. However, when additional information that affects this determination is gathered outside the hearing, it may be used provided it is shared with the charged student and the student has an opportunity to respond to the information. In cases involving multiple students charged, information provided at one hearing may be used as evidence in the related case(s).

l. To request the cancellation of a previously scheduled formal hearing, the charged student must submit a written statement to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities five (5) class days prior to the hearing date. At the discretion of the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (or designee), the hearing may be rescheduled or conducted in the charged student’s absence.

m. All first-level recommended decisions will be communicated in writing to the charged student and will include the findings of fact, determination of responsibility, sanctions (if applicable), and notice of appellate rights.
 
orientalnc

orientalnc

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These are the two important points:

"The burden of proof at a first-level hearing always rests with the University. The standard of proof will be the preponderance of the evidence, meaning that the evidence, as a whole, shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not.

f. The formal rules of evidence do not apply to Student Conduct Code proceedings."

The preponderance of evidence and the rules of evidence. Jameis will be foolish to expose himself to this. Anything at this hearing is discoverable in a civil case. And could cost him a lot of money.
 

Animal02

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orientalnc said:
These are the two important points:

"The burden of proof at a first-level hearing always rests with the University. The standard of proof will be the preponderance of the evidence, meaning that the evidence, as a whole, shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not.

f. The formal rules of evidence do not apply to Student Conduct Code proceedings."

The preponderance of evidence and the rules of evidence. Jameis will be foolish to expose himself to this. Anything at this hearing is discoverable in a civil case. And could cost him a lot of money.
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The third is that he will have to speak on his own behalf......I don't think he would be capable of relaying complex legal arguments unless he is reading from a script.
 

a5ehren

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Unless this panel has new evidence (highly unlikely), I can't see them doing anything that the DA didn't. The threshold is much lower than a criminal trial ("probable" vs "beyond a reasonable doubt"), but there is still an appeals process (section M) that he would use to run out the clock until he is done at FSU after the bowl/playoffs.
 
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