Judge says, once again, that evidence shows Champion willingly participated in hazing ritual

Yesterday, Circuit Judge Renee A. Roche sentenced three former members of the FAMU Marching 100 band convicted in the 2011 hazing homicide of drum major Robert Champion. Benjamin McNamee, 24, Aaron Golson, 22, Darryl Cearnel, 28, each received 10 years of probation.

Roche sentenced the convicted ringleader of the lethal “Crossing Bus C” hazing ritual, Dante Martin, to six years and five months of prison in January. Prosecutors had requested a sentence of nine years for Martin. But Roche said the evidence that Champion was a “willing participant” in the hazing process influenced her decision to order Martin to serve a lower amount of time than they recommended.

At yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Roche repeated the point that the evidence from the trial convinced her that Champion volunteered to be hazed.

“The court recognizes that perhaps Mr. Champion had thoughts or philosophical objections or reservations about this conduct, but there was no evidence of that presented in this case,” she said. “To the contrary, the evidence was that he went to the bus on his own, that he responded affirmatively when he was asked if he was sure repeatedly, and there was no external pressure for him to participate.”

Pam Champion, mother of the deceased victim, disagreed with the judge’s statement.

“There is no real documented proof,” she told the court. “What you’ve heard has been said over and over and over again by the people who killed him. Check your source.”

But despite the Champion family’s claims about there being “no real documented proof” that their son got on the bus voluntarily, “Crossing Bus C” hazing victim Keon Hollis has testified under oath that he and Champion asked to be hazed.

“Yeah we was talking about it,” Hollis said in a statement to investigators. “He didn’t want to do it, but he was just like, I’m gonna do it. I told him, ‘If you don’t wanna do it, don’t do it.’”