Accused students need lawyers

Johnson & Wales University's Claire Hall, special adviser to student services, suggests that it is “problematic” when a student accused of a very serious crime relies on a criminal defense attorney for protection ("Brown says it is improving sexual assault reporting, hearing processes," news, Dec. 1). I cannot help but ask what exactly is the problem.

It cannot be as she suggests — that it is unfair for one accused student to seek professional help if another student cannot afford to hire his or her own lawyer. To suggest that a student accused of sex assault proceed without a lawyer because maybe other students cannot afford the same protection is dangerous talk from an institution with an obligation to protect all of its students.

Having quite a bit of experience representing students accused of wrongdoing, I would suggest that the problem — a very real problem — is the lack of protection of, and in some cases, the ambushing of, the accused student by the university itself.

 Somebody needs to tell Ms. Hall that a lawyer hired to represent accused students in sex assault cases needs to be experienced in representing students accused of sex assault, and if that lawyer did not treat the case as a criminal case, as she seems to suggest might be the wrong approach, then perhaps the student hired the wrong lawyer.

The student accused of a sex crime needs a lawyer experienced in investigating and challenging allegations of sex crimes. Despite Ms. Hall's suggestion, experience handling trauma victims is not usually what the accused student should be looking for in his or her defense lawyer.

 That a student accused of sexual assault is allowed to have his or her culinary arts teacher as his or her adviser — but not a trained lawyer — at his or her student conduct hearing is as absurd as it sounds. I’ve witnessed this absurdity — and the unintended consequences — firsthand. Yet, that’s precisely what happens in most cases. When I am allowed into those student conduct hearings, it is only when I agree in advance to be the potted plant in the room.

 Brown University's new approach appears to consider its responsibility to both students — the alleged victim as well as the accused. Good for Brown and its students.

 In my experience, colleges and universities move too quickly in cases of sex crimes. These are not ordinary violations of campus policy and should be handled differently. The accused student is presumed guilty, treated as guilty, and eliminated from school without any reasonable due process and with little, if any, protection. We expect our college or university to protect all of its students equally — even those accused of wrongdoing, and especially when the alleged wrongdoing is as offensive as sex assault. The accusation alone permanently scars the accused.

 Parents of college students have no idea how their university or college will hang their accused child out to dry until it is too late. The solution to this very delicate situation is unclear, but it is surely rooted in fairness.

 John R. Grasso is a former Cranston police officer and practicing criminal defense lawyer in Providence.