When Brothers Assault

This from the Herald-Leader, Photo of Whiteside by Ashlee Clark:

3 plead guilty in hazing at Eastern

RICHMOND — The three men charged with the beating of an Eastern Kentucky University student as part of a fraternity hazing ritual will each serve at least 30 days of home incarceration for the assault and could potentially have their records expunged by the end of the year.

Thomas Barnes, Alonzo C. McGill and Gabriel M. McLaren pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault charges Monday morning in Madison District Court. They beat Brent White side last year while he was a candidate for admission into the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity chapter at EKU. Whiteside was later hospitalized with kidney failure...

..."The goal here is to move on," said Michael Eubanks, the attorney who represented McGill.

Eubanks and Jim Baechtold, the attorney for McLaren, denied that their clients meant to harm Whiteside during the pledge process, though they pleaded guilty to the assault charges.

"The intention was not to hurt," Eubanks said. "The intention was to build brotherhood. You don't create brotherhood by hurting people."

Barnes ... declined to comment.

KSN&C Backstory.

EKU hazing trial rescheduled

This from H-L:

RICHMOND, Ky. --The trial for three men charged in an alleged hazing incident at an Eastern Kentucky University fraternity has been delayed.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the trial was rescheduled until Jan. 5 for 21-year-old Thomas Barnes, 22-year-old Gabriel M. McLaren and 32-year-old Alonzo C. McGill....

Prosecutors ordered to provide more details in EKU hazing case

This from H-L:

RICHMOND — A judge has given prosecutors until next week to provide defense attorneys with more information about the alleged hazing of an Eastern Kentucky University student.

The order was issued after attorneys for EKU students Thomas Barnes and Gabriel M. McLaren and alumnus Alonzo C. McGill said during a hearing in Madison County District Court Thursday morning that prosecutors had provided them with very little of the information they had requested.

The attorneys had previously requested a list of names and contact information for the other men who allegedly hazed EKU student Brent Whiteside while he sought admission into EKU’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. The attorneys also requested Whiteside’s spring 2008 class schedule.

“It seems to me that the victim isn’t being forthcoming,” said Baechtold, who represents McLaren...

(Photos form H-L: above left - Brent whiteside; Above right - Attorney Jim Baechtold, Alonzo McGill and Gabriel McLaren ; right - Thomas Barnes.)

Happy ending predicted for EKU Open Records Flap

Frustrated by a change in university policy following the Kappa Alpha Psi hazing incident - a change that caused the university police to begin redacting large portions of police reports given to the Eastern Progress - the student newspaper declared, "We're Not Chicken!" and sought an Attorney General's ruling.

That was last spring.

Over the summer the Attorney General agreed with the paper.

In the first edition of the fall term (Aug 28), new Progress Editor Ben Kleppinger wrote of the victory and declared,

" If the university police are unwilling to allow the public to see the open records they have a right to see in a timely manner, the Progress will continue fighting and holding the university accountable, every week, until things change.

It's been nearly a month now and during that time - not a peep out of the chicken coup. So KSN&C decided to check in with Kleppinger to see how its going.

It's getting very close to being resolved, Kleppnger said. After several meetings involving the university counsel, the police, and others, they have finally "worked out a plan." Based on those meetings, the University Counsel is "putting together some guidelines" that provide police reports to the Progress, but which also will describe certain circumstances where the police may redact information with a process for counsel review.

Kleppinger thinks this will work out well for everyone and the Progress will outline the agreement in the paper when details are finalized.

Meanwhile, the incident that apparently caused the heavy police redactions has gone to trial. WKYT-TV reported, EKU student Brent Whiteside testified in August that "he feared for his life on campus" and was "beaten every day for close to two months...with paddles, canes and fists" - all to join the fraternity.

The beatings started on January 29th, and ended on March 6th when Whiteside said he vomited and urinated blood. He went to the hospital where he was told he was having kidney failure.

21-year-old Thomas Barnes, 22-year-old Gerald McLaren and 32-year-old Alonzo McGill, accused of beating Whiteside, have pleaded not guilty to fourth degree assault charges.

EKU has suspended the fraternity for eight years.

The judge said the case will go to trial in late October.

EKU Frat Suspended For Alleged Hazing

Officials at Eastern Kentucky University have suspended a fraternity while they investigate a claim that hazing sent a student to the hospital.

They say they received a complaint from Brent Whiteside's family that he was injured during the hazing. He is in stable condition at Central Baptist Hospital. Whiteside is a junior at EKU, and sources tell us he's a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Kappa Alpha Psi has been suspended by both its national chapter and EKU pending the outcome of the investigation...

This from MSNBC.