The four students arrested for second-degree felony criminal mischief had a brief pre-trial hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse downtown Feb. 4.
Back in November, the University filed complaints against Jonathan Bermudez, Naomi Gutierrez, Samantha Escobar, and Jefferson Turcios, who were associated with plastering ‘wanted’ posters around campus accusing University-affiliated staff and faculty of anti-Palestinian actions.
At the hearing, the prosecution asked for an extension until the next pre-trial date, which was granted. The next date is set for April 1 — eight weeks from this most recent hearing.
These eight weeks will be used to continue to gather information from the University.
“We are in the discovery process, where the district attorney’s office provides us any and all evidence that has been created as a result of these allegations,” attorney Safa Robinson explained, who is representing Samantha Escobar.
According to New York state law, all evidence found by the prosecution must be turned over to the defense counsel. Examples of possible evidence include police reports, public statements, and, notably, security footage.
What is the current situation?
The students are accused of second-degree criminal mischief — a Class D felony. This follows requirements of New York state statutes which require college campuses to have written rules that prohibit “any action or situation which recklessly or intentionally endangers mental or physical health” of those on campus, according to a statement released on Nov. 19, 2024 by Chief Public Safety Officer Quchee Collins on behalf of his department.
“While it’s sad when individuals engage in criminal conduct that is intimidating to others in classrooms and other facilities that they need to use while seeking an education or going to work, enforcement of the law is done for the protection of the community and in compliance with legal obligations of the institution,” Collins wrote.
In New York State, to be indicted with a felony, a grand jury, which decides if the accused will officially be charged with a crime, must convene.
“When somebody’s charged with a felony but there has not been an indictment, they are just considered charged by a felony complaint or instrument or refusatory instrument,” Robinson said. “For now, our clients are currently charged with felonies, they have not been indicted, so they are not prosecuting this as a felony at the moment.”
A Jan. 17 post on the UR Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Instagram claimed that the students have been expelled from the University through the University’s Code of Conduct violation procedures. Disciplinary expulsion permanently prevents each student from applying for readmission anywhere within the University.
Currently, the felony complaints are the only pending charges the students are facing.
Why was the pretrial rescheduled?
This request was likely made by the students’ attorneys due to a 2020 revision to New York State Criminal Procedure Law Article 245 (Discovery). The Discovery laws established accelerated deadlines for sharing evidence within the discovery process. For the students, this would require the prosecution to turn over all discoverable materials within 35 days after arraignment. The changes to the Discovery laws have had unintended consequences, including incentivizing the delay of challenges in the Discovery process to have cases thrown out on technicalities.
Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a series of improvements to the discovery process Jan. 31. For this case, one of the crucial details in the governor’s proposition clarifies that prosecutors can certify compliance by disclosing all evidence within their possession, limiting the need to wait on information that requires a subpoena.
According to Robinson, the extra time to gather information will be utilized. “The DA’s [district attorney’s] office has been great about getting us what we need and what we’re entitled to,” she said. “I think the hold-up is with the University.”
