FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
John Zaher (631) 207-1057, ext. 107
Hank Russell (631) 207-1057, ext. 110
PRMG New York

March 7, 2016

UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY SEEKS POUND OF FLESH

AND DISREGARDS THE RIGHTS OF
THREE AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE STUDENTS
THIS STATEMENT IS RELEASED ON BEHALF OF ASHA BURWELL,
BY HER ATTORNEYS
It appears that the University at Albany must now be called the University of
Injustice. Three young African-American women have been charged criminally in the City
of Albany Courts. And who is the arresting agency and the main proponent of the Criminal
Charges? Their own University. The three women, who were all students in good standing,
have been arrested at the urging and insistence of the Albany University Police and the
University at Albany. At the same time, these proponents of the criminal charges are
serving as the only complainants and witnesses in the Universitys student conduct process
against the very students that they have initiated charges against in the Criminal Justice
system. The real crime now is that the University is serving as the charging party against
its own students in the criminal courts, where they are swearing to allegations and
determining that these young ladies are guilty and, at the same time, seeking to rush to
judgment in the on-campus Student Conduct hearing, where they know that the young
women cannot defend themselves. They know this because they have been told by the
representatives for each of the young ladies. They know this because they are well aware
that they have caused the fury of the criminal justice courts to engage these women. They
know this because it is now their plan to further harm and punish these women without
them being able to fight back against the levels of abuse and injustice to which they are
being subjected.
In emails written to the University as far back as February 14, 2016, the University
and its representatives have been informed that:
We are fully aware that the Student's Bill of Rights
guarantees a number [of] things which have been ignored
and/or are being intentionally denied. The processing of any
referral appears to have the intent of suggesting that [Ms.
Burwell] is at fault as the reporting and complaining party.
Our client is to be protected from retaliation by the
institution, any student, the accused/respondent, and
their friends, yet she is now being forced to appear at a
referral of charges against her. Needless to say, there are

serious questions and issues which create a number of

matters which demand conversation and evaluation before
matters escalate. We welcome the opportunity to discuss all
aspects of this very complicated and fact-intensive matter.
(Emphasis added)
Then, it was learned that the University, while bringing charges internally, was also
processing charges against these students. In an email dated February 17, 2016 to the
University, the University was told:
Please advise if those documents which relate to the
proposed charges/referrals that you mentioned have been
sent along with your agreement with the University Police
that you will not provide actual copies of video and audio
evidence to Ms. Burwell or me as her representative. Further,
this email will confirm that you advised me that there is an
ongoing criminal investigation which may include Ms.
Burwell as a possible subject. In light of your comments,
we have advised you of our clients Fifth Amendment
Rights and her wish not [to] be subjected to any potential
harm or jeopardy for exercising her Constitutional
Rights. Accordingly, we have suggested that you consider
our discussion and we will revisit this discussion on Friday.
(Emphasis Added)
Then the young women were arrested and charged by the University and forced to
surrender not to the Albany City Police, but to the University at Albany Police, who was
and is serving a the initiator of the charges in the Courts and on campus. On March 1, 2016,
after the University informed Ms. Burwell and the other two young women that they
intended to prosecute them criminally, they then smugly informed these women that they
would also prosecute them on campus on March 9, 2016, despite the fact that the criminal
charges were pending with the University and its personnel serving as the complainants. In
response, the University was told, in part that:
Please be informed that Ms. Burwell has and continues to oppose your
charges and your process especially, as previously stated, since your employees
(who are the same charging parties in your proceeding) are some of the same
complainants in the Criminal charges. You and the University know that our client's
rights and potential exposure, given the criminal charges, cannot give way to an
administrative proceeding that is only being pressed to support your conclusions
which you have already reached. There is no way that you can expect the defendant
in a criminal case where you are the complainant to wave her Fifth Amendment
Rights. I have informed you that you are the State and, since it is the State that is
prosecuting our client, it would seem clear that if you really wanted to be fair, you
would not attempt to compel the accused to a hearing knowing that her
Constitutional Rights would necessarily be exercised. Further, your attempt to

present evidence that is not the whole story and is not complete, as has already
happened to the public, is both unethical and contrary to an institution of higher
learning. You have made victims into culprits, without even attempting to have a
discussion with them after you had questions. Instead, you have leveled criminal
charges making each of these young women unable to testify in your hearing and
making them unavailable to each other because of the pending venom filed criminal
charges.
The utter disregard for the rights of these young women who have not been found guilty
of anything, and the intent to do violence to them again through this process demonstrates
this so-called place of higher learning has little integrity and less credibility in a real search
for the truth. They have already, by bringing these charges, done three outrageous things.
First, they have labeled these women guilty. Second, they have effectively barred these
accused students of the ability to come to a hearing and defend the charges leveled by the
very people accusing them and potentially trying to send them to jail. Third, they have
assured that none of the women can testify for themselves or each other, without subjecting
themselves to a waiver of their Constitutional Rights.
The University has been asked on more than three occasions to hold off on their
proceedings and to let the criminal justice process run its course. They have outright
refused and denied that they are the stated, [t]he Student Conduct Hearing will proceed
as scheduled for Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. Regards, Nancy Lauricella In
addition, the level of intellectual dishonesty is shocking as Ms. Lauricella has stated, The
University at Albany is not the complainant in the criminal case. The criminal charges are
being brought forward by the Albany County District Attorney's Office, on behalf of the
People of the State of New York, and not the University. The Student Conduct Process at
the University is a separate administrative process and, as such, the University will not
delay the student conduct process to accommodate the criminal process. Clearly, the
request made by Ms. Burwells representative was not to accommodate the criminal
process, but for these women to have the ability to defend themselves against these
charges, given that the University created the underlying dilemma by rushing and bringing
criminal charges and forcing these women to be placed in penal jeopardy.
There is no doubt that these women are going to address the criminal charges, but the
actions of the University to create a Hobsons Choice and act as though they are not
attempting to punish these women without really affording a chance to defend themselves
is shameful for an institution that wants to be seen as a place of deep thinking and
intellectual honesty. By their actions, they call their own reputation and standing in the
academic community into question. Something must be done to stop the use of this process
at which only University employees will serve as witness. The notice of who will be
witnesses against these ladies is that not a single person alleged to have been on the bus is
going to be a witness in this hearing. In other words, every person coming to testify to
seek to punish these women is a University employee and has no firsthand testimony to
describe what these womens experienced on the bus. Any person of good conscience and
average intellect must object to the University using its internal process to manufacture and

perform an academic lynching. Nothing could be more unfair and unjust than what the
University of Injustice is now planning on doing.

This Statement is issued by Frederick K. Brewington, Esq. attorney

for Ms. Asha Burwell and is joined by Mark Mishler, Esq. on behalf
of his client, Ms. Ariel Agudio.

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About The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington
The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a well-respected litigation firm; with an office in Hempstead, Long
Island. Our focus is primarily in the area of civil rights, voting rights, employment discrimination, police misconduct,
personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and criminal law. However, the Law Offices of Frederick K.
Brewington is a full service law firm handling matters in numerous areas of law and providing a wide range of services
from contract formation to litigation and trial practice. It is the largest African-American-owned law firm on Long
Island and has been designated by the New York Law Journal as one of the top minority-owned firms in the state of
New York. For more information, call (516) 489-6959 or visit www.brewingtonlaw.com.