Chico victim's parents create website, foundation

[hoosier]

(Thanks to Doug Case and Fraternal News)

Chico Enterprise-Record
September 13, 2005

Judge orders single trial in hazing case

By TERRY VAU DELL - Staff Writer
Chico Enterprise-Record

OROVILLE - A judge Monday ordered all seven defendants accused in an
alleged fatal Chico fraternity hazing case to stand trial together.

But that's not necessarily the end of the matter.

Attorneys for three of the students facing lesser misdemeanor charges
assert trying them with four manslaughter suspects would be "unduly
prejudicial." They will now seek to sever those cases.

Strongly in support of holding a single jury trial are the parents of
Matthew Carrington, the 21-year-old Chico State pledge who died Feb. 2 of
medical complications after allegedly being made to drink copious amounts
of water while performing rigorous athletic moves in a dank, wet basement
as part of a "Hell Week" initiation at the defunct Chi Tau fraternity house
in Chico.

"They were all in that basement together; they can all stand trial
together," reasoned Debbie Smith, the deceased student's mother.

In court Monday, Judge Stephen Benson granted a request by District
Attorney Mike Ramsey to consolidate the seven fraternity cases for an
estimated 20-day jury trial scheduled to start Nov. 2.

Ramsey contended all seven fraternity defendants were legally joined when
he named them in the same criminal complaint, but said he brought the
consolidation motion at the request of the court.

Given what he termed the common evidence, holding one jury trial makes
sense in the sake of "judicial economy," for witnesses and jurors alike,
the judge ruled.

Benson added he believes the fraternity hazing trial could be fashioned in
such a way to not prejudice the three misdemeanor defendants, Richard
Joseph Hirth, 22, Michael Fernandes, 19, and Trent Stiefvater, 20.

But lawyers for the trio strongly disagree.

They maintain their clients left the Chi Tau fraternity house some two
hours before Carrington died, making "legally irrelevant" to them anything
that happened after their departure.

Four fraternity members, Gabriel John Maestretti, 22, Jerry Ming Lim, 25,
Carlos James Devilla Abrille, 22, and John Paul Fickes, 19, were allegedly
present when Carrington suffered the fatal collapse and died later that
morning at a local hospital.

The four are charged both with hazing, which carries a maximum of one year
in jail, and involuntary manslaughter, a felony which could bring another
four years in prison.

Not only would it be unfair from a legal standpoint to try all defendants
together, it will also be more costly for his client, said Denny Forland,
the attorney for one of the misdemeanor defendants, Stiefvater.

The judge indicated he will hear defense motions to sever the misdemeanor
and felony cases on Sept. 26.

Given Benson's comments in court Monday, Thomas Clute, Fernandes' lawyer,
expressed little optimism of prevailing.

Carrington parents, who have come up from the Bay Area for every court
hearing since their son's death, are now dramatizing their loss in
different ways to try to put an end to fraternity hazing.

Smith has recently created a Web site in her son's honor -
"wemissyoumatt.com" - which provides background information about the Chico
State student, while encouraging comment on his death.

Carrington's mother has also contacted local legislators asking them to
sponsor a bill to create "Matt's Law," which would remove hazing from the
education code and make it a felony, punishable by prison in cases of
severe injury or death.

"No one should be doing this to another person, regardless of whether
they're students," said Smith, who plans later this month to address
sorority members at UC Berkeley on the dangers of hazing.

Michael Carrington, meanwhile, has helped to establish a nonprofit
corporation, "The Matt Carrington Project," which he said is aimed at
"promoting awareness about the heinous nature of student-on-student
violence in all its ramifications, such as hazing, binge drinking ...
rookie athlete initiations - especially in high school - and bullying (in
the) elementary and middle schools."

He said the group will primarily target K-12 students, as well incoming
college freshman through public speaking events, similar to a talk the
deceased student's father gave last month at Chico State University.

Only last month, Carrington noted, a 19-year-old college fraternity pledge
in Southern California died of injuries sustained in an apparent tackle
football game without any protective pads or helmet. It is currently being
investigated as a possible hazing, according to police.