Posted on 07/16/2007 10:19:27 AM PDT by Bladerunnuh
The body of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, 22, was discovered Dec. 15 in her dorm room. At the time, university officials told her parents and the media that she died of asphyxiation but that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to the contrary.
It wasn't until another Eastern student was arrested in late February and charged with murder that her family and fellow students learned she had been raped and killed.
The accused student, Orange Taylor III, of Southfield, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct charges in Dickinson's death. He is scheduled for trial Oct. 15.
Many in the university's administration were accused of covering up the truth and endangering students to protect the school's image, which has been marred in recent years by tensions with faculty, students and the community.
Robert Dickinson, the young woman's father, said anybody implicated in the federal report "should probably expect the same" fate as Fallon.
"I fire my baristas if they do wrong," said Dickinson, who owns a coffee house. "The board of this school should do whatever they need to do. They need to follow the rules that they have set forth."
The board was expected to meet later Monday to discuss the case. Still undetermined was the status of Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Vick and Public Safety Director Cindy Hall. University spokeswoman Pamela Young said she couldn't discuss Fallon until after the meeting.
Howard Bunsis, president of the faculty union, said Monday that everyone involved in covering up information about Dickinson's slaying should no longer be working for the university.
"It's now time for the university to move forward," Bunsis
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Could have been an incorrect rumor - this story just reminded me that I had heard that.
But -- I can't imagine the parents not demanding an autopsy at the very beginning.
Yes - I seem to have the same foggy recollections as you do - and I sort of started recalling them while writing my post.
If that turns out to be the case I’d say there is a very real conflict of interest going on here.
Not too different from some of these cruise ship incidents where the cruise ship security is in charge of investigating the incidents at sea. They have a vested interest in having the story come out a certain way.
I suspected that there was more to it than a simple cover up.
Then I saw the photos and I knew immediately what it was that the college, the media and the police were so eager to hide.
It’s obvious that the college, the media and the police actually were happy about the “white” girl getting killed by a member of a specially-privileged protected group.
The University of Michigan is one of the centers of liberalism. The place is evil.
“It’s obvious that the college, the media and the police actually were happy about the “white” girl getting killed by a member of a specially-privileged protected group.”
Comments like this make me think YOU’RE the mentally deranged one.
It didn’t happen at the Univ. of Michigan.
I’m sick of people buying it, mindlessly.
Thanks for your post.
.
accessories after the fact of Rape and Murder...
Trust me schools look out for themselves and do NOT give accurate campus crime statistics. I can attest to this from very personal experience.
HIPAA (only one “P “by the way) does not prohibit exchange of personal health information in the course of a criminal investigation. The real question is when the police got involved. At the very least they should have questioned the parents. And the police are not HIPAA covered entities.
Three Eastern Michigan University administrators, including the president, have been forced out, months after top school officials were accused of covering up the rape and slaying of a student by publicly ruling out foul play.
President John Fallon was fired, and Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Vick and Public Safety Director Cindy Hall also lost their jobs at the 23,500-student university...
http://story.news.ask.com//article/20070716/D8QDSS3G1.html
One of the more troubling aspects of the Laura Dickinson investigation was the fact that so many people knew something was amiss, yet no one spoke up to tell the public.
That's especially troubling for those who've taken an oath to protect and serve.
Almost immediately after the body of the Eastern Michigan University student was found in her dorm room, law enforcement officials from several agencies got involved in the investigation, including Ypsilanti Police, Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies and the Michigan State Police. Because the death occurred on the EMU campus, the investigation was led by the university's Department of Public Safety.
A federal report released last week that examined how EMU responded to the crime leaves no doubt that the EMU public safety staff, state police and other investigators knew early on that the death was very likely a homicide, and everyone involved knew they were conducting a murder investigation. An earlier report commissioned by the EMU Board of Regents and compiled by the law firm Butzel Long drew the same conclusion: Many people knew the death was a homicide, but no law enforcement official communicated that to President John Fallon, to the public or, most importantly, to Dickinson's family and EMU students, faculty and staff until after the arrest.
The issue of jurisdiction is at play in this case. Because EMU public safety officers were in charge, other agencies deferred to their decisions about what information to release. When EMU issued a statement saying no foul play was suspected in Dickinson's death, no one publicly contradicted it. When Public Safety Director Cindy Hall continued to describe it as a death investigation rather than a homicide, other agencies remained quiet.
The culture of law enforcement emphasizes, not surprisingly, a clear chain of command. Subordinates are disciplined not to subvert this chain by speaking out, without authorization from their supervisors. While some people involved in the investigation disagreed with EMU's decision not to release information to the public, they said nothing. It was more than two months after her death that police arrested a suspect, and only at that point did EMU disclose the true nature of the investigation.
Those investigating the crime are to be commended for making an arrest in the case. But while doing so, EMU violated the Clery Act, which requires timely notifications of campus crimes. Even more damaging, EMU seriously violated the trust of people they've vowed to protect - and other agencies were complicit in their silence. And that's a much harder breach to mend.
I believe one of the local Detroit stations interviewed the father of the victim after the arrest and the murder and rape came out. All I remember was having that same reaction “why didn’t the father dig this up weeks ago?” I guess in a state of greif you don’t know what you’d do. I’d hope I could keep it together enough to arm myself and go hunting. I pray I’ll never have to.
GOOD! Original thread here...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1853388/posts?q=1&;page=1
Condolences to Bob and Deb Dickinson, the remaining members of Laura’s family and all of her friends.
Good background info, JT. Seems that from Virginia Tech, to Duke, to this case, to other, countless examples the universities have consistently taken the wrong approach in matters great and small. If you can’t trust schools to give kids proper information in the academic spheres, you probably can’t trust them to do the right thing in their supervisory, security capacity. There is something resembling the odor of week old fish in the academy these days.
Your points are extremely well taken. Also, you may remember that 30 years ago the campus was victimized by a serial rapist. The media wasn’t quite as vicious as it is now but nonetheless, the media converged on the campus with a vengeance. Their interference made the capture of the suspect much more difficult. I can imagine the University Safety Department wanted to keep a lot of information from leaking to the public, however,as you so correctly point out, they were in violation of federal law in not releasing the information right away. I doubt it was a “cover-up” as some would claim, just some small agency that was ill-equiped to handle a homicide that made some errors in judgement. As for the autopsy, any death not in a hospital or of someone not under a doctors care would be subject to a post for COD. The death certificate should have listed the death as primary; asphyxiation resultant from a homicide. The family usually doesn’t receive the death certificate for a couple of weeks after filing AND if there was a toxicology screen ordered, it can delay the coroner’s final report. While I am not siding with EMU, I can see how they screwed up. Remember, homicide investigations are not the norm on monst campuses.
Thanks for that information. Very distressing. A lot of “Good Germans” in the chain.
Orange you glad Orange is now clad in orange?
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