Student Suspended for Off-Campus Traffic Violation

DPS May Have Violated Law by Pulling Him Over

BY JOHN P. SCHMIDT AND RYAN J. REILLY

Traffic violations rarely affect more than insurance premiums and license points, but one sophomore just lost a semester’s tuition and enrollment at the University for driving the wrong way on John McCormack Road.

Sophomore Justin DiFranco, a 19-year-old marketing major from New Jersey, made an illegal turn onto Michigan Avenue when the gate to campus near the Metro was closed. Lt. Marvin Dicks witnessed the vehicle operated by DiFranco moving erratically at a high rate of speed on Aug. 26 at 1:50 a.m., according to a Department of Public Safety report obtained by the Tower. Thirty-one minutes later, Dicks said he observed the same vehicle enter Spellman parking lot and pulled over the silver Jeep Grand Cherokee.

DPS contacted the Metropolitan Police Department, who searched the vehicle and issued a sobriety test, DiFranco said. The test indicated DiFranco had nothing to drink, and MPD left the scene without filing a report. DPS issued an incident report and referred the incident to the Office of Judicial Affairs, who prosecuted DiFranco for violating a section of the student code of conduct which says the University can pursue disciplinary action against a student for violating a District or federal law off-campus.

DiFranco disputed that he was driving erratically and provided a witness statement indicating he was not operating the vehicle in that way.

He appeared before a panel of students on the University Hearing Board, who concluded he had been driving recklessly and found him in violation of University policy by breaking District law and recommended suspension. An appeals board upheld the decision of the Hearing Board, and DiFranco submitted a request for clemency to Rev. David M. O’Connell, the University president.

Yesterday, DiFranco learned his appeal for clemency was denied in a letter from O’Connell. In his letter O’Connell referenced that DiFranco had previously been cited four other times for student code violations for a reason to deny clemency.

In a letter to O’Connell, DiFranco mentioned that since the incident he has met with Rev. Robert Schlageter, the University’s chaplain, a few times a week. DiFranco said that he spoke to Schlageter about the incident and his life. By talking to Schlageter, DiFranco said he has been able to improve his life and find a path that bests reflects Catholic and Christian values.

O’Connell is currently overseas in Rome and the Ukraine on University business and has limited e-mail access, according to an out of office auto reply from his e-mail account. He will not return until October 17.

The appeal letter from DiFranco, accompanied by a letter from his parents and a letter from tennis head coach Marty Dowd, ‘60, was submitted in hard copy at O’Connell’s office in Nugent Hall at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Several hours later an auto reply e-mail from O’Connell bounced back, indicating he had left for Europe. According to University Spokesman Victor Nakas, O’Connell was on-campus for part of the day.

O’Connell’s response, however, was dated yesterday, Oct. 9, when he had already departed. DiFranco was told by David Best, assistant director of University Affairs and Ethical Development, that O’Connell could have reviewed scanned versions of DiFranco’s appeal online. After comparing the signature on the letter to O’Connell’s signature in two other University publications, DiFranco and his friends believed that O’Connell did not personally sign the documents, and questioned how much time he spent on the case.

“I feel that I was betrayed by my own school and that I wasn’t even listened to by my peers on the student hearing board,” said DiFranco. “I think all that happened was that they looked at the information on my judiciary record and didn’t look at anything else.”

During his freshmen year, DiFranco had been found in violation of the student code on four occasions. He was found guilty of a noise violation, possession of alcohol, running a red light off-campus and unscrewing the dividers in the bathroom stalls on the fourth floor of Spellman Hall.

“I don’t understand how the president of our school, a respected clergy nonetheless, will not give Justin even a 10-minute conference to meet him for the first and possibly the last time, but instead can sign a letter from another hemisphere stating he deserves to be suspended,” said Kyle Giangiulio, a sophomore and friend of DiFranco. He believes the circumsances of the judicial process was very unfair, and considered it illegitimate.

DiFranco said he used caution when he drove past the do-not-enter signs and made the illegal turn to drop off friends at their dorms. Last year, a friend of his asked a special police officer who is contracted by DPS what to do when the gates were closed. The officer instructed him to proceed cautiously and make the illegal right hand turn onto Michigan Avenue.

When the gates are closed, DPS vehicles and other cars frequently make the illegal turn to avoid the five traffic lights and 1.75 mile journey around campus they would have to make in order to get to the same place on Michigan Avenue. Directions from Google Maps recommend cutting through campus, which is impossible when the gates are closed.

The gates are closed to control traffic entering and exiting campus during the late night hours, according to Thomasine Johnson, director of DPS. Gates are typically closed when the Metro stops operating.

“If we don’t close the gates at night, then the campus becomes vulnerable,” said Johnson. The only gate open during the nighttime hours are near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

By pulling DiFranco over, Dicks may have himself been breaking the law by exceeding the powers granted to him as a special police officer. A municipal regulation on special police says that officers “shall be strictly confined in their authority to the particular place or property which they are commissioned to protect.” John McCormack Road is a public street under the jurisdiction of MPD.

“A campus police officer can take any action an MPD officer can do on campus property or in fresh pursuit of somebody onto public space in conjunction with a crime committed on campus,” said Lt. Jon Shelton of the Securities Management Branch, which overseas all special police officers in the District, including DPS.

Shelton could not discuss details of the case because if there is a complaint made against the DPS officers who pulled DiFranco over, he would have to render a decision about the officer’s conduct. He would only say that, in general, DPS officers could only enforce laws on property which they are hired to protect.

“DPS is empowered to enforce laws on the campus property and to protect students on campus,” said Johnson. “If there was an incident which involved a risk to the safety of the campus community, DPS can respond,” she added.

Johnson declined to answer general questions regarding her department’s authority over students off campus property. When presented with the specific incident report about the event which took place six weeks ago, she declined to answer questions because she did not have adequate time to review the details. She also declined to say whether or not DPS is allowed to pull over a vehicle for a moving violation which occurred off campus.

Dean of Students Jonathan Sawyer, who signed off on the decision of the appeals board, was out of the office when contacted by The Tower. Senior Associate Dean of Students Sarah Daniels said she was not familiar with the specifics of the case, and did not have time for an interview this week.

The Tower contacted Craig Parker, the University’s general counsel, for information about the legality of DPS’s decision to pull over a vehicle for a traffic violation that occurred off -campus. He indicated that he is now dealing with the Tower through University Spokesman Victor Nakas, and that he was not familiar with the specific incident.

Nakas said the Tower did not give him or Parker enough time to respond to the inquiry, which was sent at 4:56 p.m. yesterday afternoon. The newspaper was waiting to be able to obtain and scan a copy of the incident report before contacting Nakas.

He stated that the Tower cannot pose questions to him at 5 p.m. and expect him to be able to answer questions in a short amount of time. He went on to suggest that the Tower should consider holding the story instead of printing it today.

DiFranco said that he is not sure whether he wants to come back to the University next semester because of the financial strain of his suspension.

“Our family does not live extravagantly, money is tight and it is a hardship… to be sending my sister and me to college at the same time,” wrote DiFranco in his letter to O’Connell. “They will be devastated and heartbroken if I am suspended and will take $20,000 out of their pockets.”

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