Attorney: 3 suspended Michigan State players violated school policy
The three still-unnamed Michigan State players under Title IX investigation were found to have violated school policy, the alleged victim’s attorney told the Detroit Free Press.
The school announced in February that an investigation into allegations of sexual assault was underway and three players were suspended. Since then, not much has been made public about the situation until it was reported on Monday evening that the investigation had wrapped up. Tuesday, attorney Karen Tuszkowski told the Free Press that the investigation did yield violations, but declined to give further details.
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The players have not been dismissed as the case proceeds through the procedures of the university’s student conduct policy.
“They have not been expelled or dismissed from the school at this point because it has not gotten to that stage yet,” she told the paper.
Citing privacy laws (much to ESPN’s chagrin), MSU spokesman Jason Cody told reporters on Monday that specifics of the investigation would not be made public, but he did offer a glimpse into the overall process the school has been following. From the Free Press:
Cody detailed the process in general terms and said once any Title IX investigation is completed by MSU, if a policy violation was found to have occurred, it would then move into the student conduct system.
Potential sanctions range from a formal warning to dismissal from the university, according to the school’s website on the student conduct system.
Here is the school’s disciplinary process from its student life website:
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The investigation stems from an alleged rape in the early morning hours of Jan. 16. The incident was reported to MSU police the next day and the university announced the players’ suspensions on Feb. 9. The case was also passed to the Ingham County’s prosecutor’s office, which could file charges.
Before the team’s spring game, Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said he was “extremely concerned” about the investigation.
“I cannot comment on an investigation,” said Dantonio, who reiterated the “serious” nature of the situation multiple times. “That’s not my place. I’m a football coach here. I’m a head of the program. What I can comment on, I will comment on. What I won’t do right now is talk about football because I don’t think that’s important enough, quite honestly, to talk about at this point in time in our program.
“I hope everybody understands how serious we are taking this relative to our football program. I hope everybody understands this is not business as usual. To come out here and have our players be interviewed and act like there’s nothing going on, I just think that’s inappropriate and that’s why I haven’t done it.”
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
