Many Champion, Hunter case defendants could avoid prison sentences

Many of the defendants accused of hazing two FAMU students with reported links to the Red Dawg Order could avoid going to prison. State prosecutors face huge hurdles due to the limitations of the evidence in both cases.

Bria Hunter, a FAMU student from Atlanta, attempted to pledge the Red Dawg Order last year. The Red Dawgs are an unsanctioned group of Marching 100 students from Georgia who have a reputation for hazing.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, State Attorney Jon Fuchs said that “the criminal case was weakened recently when medical reports revealed that Hunter had not suffered a cracked femur or other serious injuries as a result of the incident in which she was punched, slapped and smacked with a metal ruler.”

Aaron Golson, the alleged “dean of pledges” for the Red Dawgs, will pled no contest to misdemeanor hazing against Hunter. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that “such a plea typically carries a penalty of probation, community service and restitution, but no jail time.”

Prosecutors are attempting to reach plea bargains with the remaining two defendants in the Hunter case.

Robert Champion, another reported Red Dawg member, died after being hazed on Nov. 19 in Orlando. Golson also faces charges in that hazing incident.

 Bill Sheaffer, a legal analyst for WFTV in Orlando, says many of the 11 felony defendants in the Champion case could avoid prison because they are first-time offenders and/or might reach plea deals for lesser charges.

“What the state will do is take the cases where there is the least amount of evidence, and they'll offer those [defendants] a probationary sentence, so that those individuals are free then to testify against the other individuals,’’ Sheaffer said.

WFTV also reported that “prosecutors have no video proof that Champion was hazed, only statements from eyewitnesses and a medical examiner’s report, which ruled his death a homicide.”