The Daily Collegian

Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Brian Tedder/Collegian Jason Vassell's lawyer David P. Hoose speaks after the July 24 pretrial hearing while Vassell and UMass professor Michael Thelwell look on. [Click to enlarge]

Jason Vassell was in court for two minutes, but left home with the support of over 100 people.

On Monday Sept. 8, the Justice for Jason committee planned carpool stations in front of the Student Union and in the Southwest horseshoe, where supporters for Vassell gathered before leaving to Hampshire Superior court in Northampton.

Inside the courtroom the pretrial was rescheduled to Sept. 29. His supporters stood outside of the courthouse while Vassell's lawyer and the Justice for Jason committee spoke and answered questions about the importance of community support and the case's status.

Vassell's lawyer, David P. Hoose, spoke on the insignificance of these conferences leading up to the trial, but emphasized the importance of the continuous support from the community.

According to Hoose, the next pre-trial conference will allow them to accumulate what they have and what they need before going to trial as witness statements, diagrams, police reports and forensic evidence will be shared. Hoose said that Hampshire Superior court arranged a presumptive trial month of January, but it is not guaranteed that the case will be called as older cases and defendants that are in custody have priority.

UMass Professor Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, of Literature and Writing in the department of Afro-American Studies, reassured supporters that the case is stirring attention around the community as he delivered messages from representatives Ellen Story and Stan Rosenberg about the case and his belief that justice is served with the values of their representing communities. Thelwell suggested to the supporters that letters be written to local media outlets and District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel on their concerns.

"As university faculty members and librarians, we believe that the excessive prosecution of one of our former students, Jason Vassell, not only violates his right to justice under the law, but that this prosecution is an affront to the university community," political science professor John Brigham shared a statement issued by the Massachusetts Society of Professors. "Jason was subjected to a racist attack in his dorm by visitors to campus. We believe their attack was an assault on all of us. Prosecuting Jason Vassell under felony charges and one of his attackers with misdemeanors seems to us unjust. We strongly object to the course our District Attorney, Elizabeth Scheibel, has taken in this case."

The Justice for Jason committee gave updates of upcoming fundraising initiatives that include Justice for Jason t-shirts, an awareness celebration, and a silent auction, which will all benefit Vassell's court fees.

Gisel Saillant can be reached at gsaillan@student.umass.edu.

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