Wednesday, July 21, 1999
6 of 7 cleared in MU protest
One student skips; charges possible
BY MICHAEL D. CLARK and SUE KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
OXFORD — A Butler County jury Tuesday found five of six Miami University students and a former student not guilty of criminal charges from protests they conducted last year in the wake of a campus racial incident.
The jury hearing the case, which began Monday in Butler County Area I Court in Oxford, came to its verdict Tuesday evening after hearing testimony during the day.
A seventh defendant, a Miami student, did not attend the trial, and court officials said they may take action to force his appearance.
Police arrested the seven Nov. 11 after about 30 students — most of them African-Americans — stood along a busy section of U.S. 27 near Ohio 73 and stepped into traffic.
The jury trial was presided over by Judge Rob Lyons.
The seven students had participated in a second consecutive day of protests on U.S. 27.
Defendants found not guilty of charges of disorderly conduct were: students Jerry Greene, Ahmad Harris, Kevin Mahoney, Chentae Pennyman and Martin Shepherd; and former student Brad M. Allen.
Miami student Robert Jackson did not appear for the trial, court officials said, and may face further charges.
All seven were charged with disorderly conduct. If found guilty, they faced a sentence of up to 30 days in jail and a maximum fine of $250.
On Nov. 10, the day before the arrests, about 100 students linked arms and stopped traffic at the same intersection.
The two protests were an angry reaction to an Oct. 30 racial incident at the university's Center for Black Culture and Learning. Racist, anti-gay and pro-Ku Klux Klan messages appeared on bulletin boards and on computer screens.
In a startling twist to the case, two Miami black student leaders resigned from the university Jan. 20 after officials accused them of posting the racist messages.
Nathaniel Snow, 22, of College Hill, former president of the Black Student Action Association, and Mr. Allen, 21, of suburban Cleveland, were charged with criminal mischief and criminal trespassing.
Police said 87 percent of the fingerprints on the fliers matched those of Mr. Snow and Mr. Allen.
Their trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 23.
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