Free Shoes University?: Michael McCann & a Florida State Student Conduct Code Proceeding Against Jameis Winston

Sports Illustrated has a great piece by Michael McCann about what a student code of conduct hearing would look like for Heisman-winning quarterback Jameis Winston. I previously blogged about possible evidentiary issues at a potential criminal trial against Winston in this post. The gist of McCann‘s piece is that none of these evidentiary issues would arise at a student code of conduct hearing. Why?

Well, Florida State’s Student Conduct Code states that “[t]he formal rules of evidence do not apply to Student Conduct Code proceedings.” This means that the rules of exclusion contained in the Florida Rules of Evidence would not apply.

What about the Due Process Clause and the Confrontation Clause? The Student Conduct Code states that

Witness testimony is not required and the inability of the charged student to question a witness who has provided a written statement is not a violation of the due process rights of the charged student, as the charged student has the opportunity to review and respond to the written statement and may offer evidence to rebut the witness statement and other evidence presented at the hearing. Witness statements are entitled to be given the same weight by the hearing body as live witness testimony. Witness statements need not be sworn or in affidavit form.

What about the requirement that guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt? The Student Conduct Code states that

“Preponderance of the evidence” means that the evidence, as a whole, shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not. This standard shall be used in adjudicating all student conduct cases within this Student Conduct Code.

What about the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial? The Student Conduct Code states that

All individual hearings will be conducted in private. If the charged student wants to have the hearing open, the charged student must submit a written request for a public hearing to the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities or University Housing at least three class days prior to the hearing. Charges involving alleged sexual misconduct will not be heard in public without prior written consent of all complainants. After receiving the consent of all complainants in the case, the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities may open the hearing to the public. If the hearing is made public, there is no requirement to obtain a larger hearing room to accommodate members of the public, so long as one (1) member of the public may be present.

So, are these types of rules out of the ordinary or subject to judicial scrutiny assuming that they are applied as written? The answer to both of these questions is: No. For proof, check out this post about a student disciplinary proceeding at Central Florida.

-CM