A preliminary hearing date for five University of Pennsylvania students accused of assaulting a Princeton debate panel member will not be decided until Dec. 17.
The students — Philip Balderston, Tavraj Banga, Thomas Bispham Jr., David Hochfelder and Steven Solk — appeared in Philadelphia police's 18th District Courthouse yesterday, where the judge decided to hold off on a preliminary hearing until all attorneys could meet.
"The [lawyers] can't get together all at the same time," said Bill Danks, deputy chief of investigations for Penn Police.
The Penn students are accused of kicking John Brantl '05, dousing him in motor oil, threatening to throw a lit cigarette at him and making him promise never to return to Penn.
They are being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment of another person's life, terroristic threats, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of an instrument of crime.
Each alleged assailant has hired his own defense attorney, Dank said.
He would not name the attorneys but said they are all "experienced defense attorneys in Philadelphia."
At the new hearing, each attorney is obligated to be present in the courtroom before attending to any other cases, he added.
On Dec. 17, there will be a status hearing where all involved parties will meet with the judge to determine how the case should proceed. At the hearing, the judge will set the date of the new preliminary hearing and decide when the trial will begin.
"There's going to be no testimony, no evidence presented, nothing," Danks said.
He said he expected the hearing would be pushed back a few weeks and might occur in late December or early January. The judge has not given any indication of a specific date.
While under criminal and internal investigation by Penn, Bispham, Banga, Solk, Hochfelder and Balderston are permitted to attend classes. The Penn investigative process is independent of the criminal investigation said Phyllis Holtzman, a Penn spokeswoman.
"The Penn Office of Student Conduct will be running its investigation at the same time as the criminal investigation," she said. "However, we cannot say whether the school's investigation will finish before or after the trial."
Balderston and Hochfelder are freshmen in the College of Arts and Sciences; Bispham is a sophomore in the College; Solk is a senior in the College; and Banga is sophomore in the Wharton School.
The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that the five suspects are affiliated with an underground society at Penn known as the Owls. The newspaper reported that Banga, Bispham and Solk are Owls while Balderston and Hochfelder are seeking membership in the organization.
"The University is aware of 2 or 3 groups that function independent of the university and the Greek system," Holtzman said. "At this time, we cannot confirm nor deny an involvement of the Owls."
In the past few days, national media has caught wind of the incident and has presented it as something that just occurred, Holtzman said.
CNN was on Princeton's campus today interviewing students about the incident for a segment on "Talk Back Live."
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