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| Dante Martin, who was sentenced to 6 years, 5 months in the homicide
case |
FAMU offered the Champions $300,000 in 2012, but the family
rejected it. The Florida sovereign immunity law sets $300,000 as the most that
state universities may pay as part of a legal proceeding. Higher amounts must
come from a claims bill passed by Florida Legislature.
Champion died after a hazing incident aboard a charter bus
in Orlando on November 19, 2011.
According to the Sentinel, a lawyer for the Champion family claims that “FAMU’s failure to halt hazing in the band created an ‘institutionalized coercion’ that led Champion to submit to a practice he disliked.”
But Circuit Judge Renee A. Roche, who sentenced four former
members of the FAMU Marching 100 band convicted in the 2011 hazing homicide,
said the evidence from the trials 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.”
An investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office also
found that Champion “willingly participated” in the hazing activity that cost
him his life.
Hazing victim Keon Hollis testified under oath at the
criminal trials 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.’”
The Champion’s reached a settlement with Fabulous Coach Lines
and driver of the bus that was the site of the hazing ritual in 2014. The
family has not released the details of the settlement. But the files of the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
state that Fabulous Coach Lines had a $5 million insurance limit from June 30,
2011 through January 27, 2012.
The Sentinel also reports that FAMU’s lawyer has asked the
court to order the Champion family’s attorney to release the details of the bus
company settlement and the “terms of any settlement deal between the Champions
and the Rosen Plaza Hotel or the hotel's insurance carrier.”