Four men accused of petty larceny, hazing initiation and simple assault on campus last October were found not guilty on Monday by a Lafayette County judge.
A fifth student who was charged with assault in the case won’t go to trial until Aug. 15, according to the court clerk.
Kyle Hughes, Christian Guy, Austin Rice, James Declan Basile and Tucker Cole Steil were arrested on Oct. 16 in connection with the alleged assault of student Jeremy Boyle at the Sigma Pi fraternity house on campus. Boyle had several broken teeth, a ruptured eardrum and a lung contusion.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 6, when Boyle noticed men trying to move a donkey statue from the top of the Sigma Pi fraternity house, according to a University spokesman.
Lafayette County Judge Mickey Avent handed down four not guilty judgments on Monday for Hughes, Guy, Rice and Basile. Steil’s case is scheduled for August.
Kevin Frye, an attorney in Oxford, represented Basile.
“Mr. Basile went to trial on charges of larceny, hazing and simple assault,” Frye said. “At the conclusion of the trial, the judge found Mr. Basile not guilty and excluded him of all charges. It’s unfortunate that there was a rush to judgment in the media when this incident occurred and I hope that people will evaluate the outcome of the case today and understand this matter is now concluded.”
Rice, Guy and Hughes had been charged with petty larceny.
Ashford attorney Anthony Farese represented Rice.
“We think the young men are entitled to have the public know they were exonerated because they paid a hefty price,” Farese said. “They were disciplined by the university, kicked out of their fraternities and, quite honestly, this was nothing more than a fraternity prank gone bad.”
Dwight Ball, an Oxford attorney who represented Christian Guy, said witnesses testified for the prosecution and he thought the trial was fair.
“It was a very lengthy, in-depth trial and the proof showed and the judge so-ruled that he was not guilty,” Ball said. “Out of all the testimony, not one single bit of evidence was produced that in any way implicated Christian Guy of anything.”
At the time of the incident, Basile was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, and Hughes, Guy, Rice and Steil were new pledges of the fraternity. All five were dismissed or expelled from the fraternity in October. A University spokesman said at the time that the fraternity bore no responsibility for the assault.
Brian Boyle, father of Jeremy Boyle, said he was disappointed in the results of the trial.
“I don’t understand how this could happen,” Boyle said. “You’ve got four people involved in an assault. You’ve got a kid that was severely injured, and the judge dismisses all cases, dismisses everything? I’m beside myself. I don’t know what to say.”
