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Ex-FAMU student tells of hazing pain

The victim testifies that being beaten with a cane was so intense, he passed out.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 30, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - The pain of being swatted on the buttocks with canes and punched in the head during a fraternity initiation was so intense he couldn't describe it, a former Florida A&M University student testified Friday.

Marcus Jones, 20, told jurors that five Kappa Alpha Psi brothers on trial in the first apparent test of Florida's new antihazing law participated in the initiation ritual on four nights in February.

"It's the worst pain I ever felt," Jones testified. "I've never felt pain like that." At one point he passed out, he said.

Jones said he needed surgery on his buttocks and was hospitalized for two days back home in Decatur, Ga. He also temporarily lost hearing due to a torn eardrum. His left ear now has healed and his hearing is back to normal, but he still has pain, Jones testified.

The prosecution rested later Friday. The defense then briefly questioned Jones' mother, Carolyn Jones, before the trial recessed. It will resume on Oct. 9. The judge and two jurors have conflicts next week and courts are closed Monday for Yom Kippur.

The hazing took place in a darkened room of a house on the first two nights, so he was unable to tell who was hitting him with canes, bare fists and boxing gloves, Jones said. He said after a one-day break, the hazing moved to a warehouse for the next two nights.

Up to 27 pledges initially were blindfolded for part of the hazing there, Jones testified.

Later they were allowed to remove the blindfolds, fashioned from stockings and feminine sanitary napkins, and he was able to see their tormentors as the punishment continued, he said.

Jones told the jury that four defendants, Michael Morton, 23; Brian Bowman, 23; Cory Gray, 22; and Marcus Hughes, 21, took turns striking the initiates one at a time with canes as they bent over with one arm stretched forward and the other protecting their genitals.

Assistant State Attorney Frank Allman handed Jones a thick wooden cane with a curved handle and asked to him step down from the witness stand to demonstrate how it was used.

The cane made a whoosh as Jones - wearing a suit, tie, gold-rimmed glasses and shoulder-length dreadlocks - swiftly swung it just in front of the jury box.

Later on cross-examination by defense lawyer Chuck Hobbs, Jones bent over to demonstrate the position he was in when hit.

The fifth defendant, Jason Harris, 25, had a different role, Jones said. When a candidate would pass out, Harris would revive him by pouring water on his face, then admonish him, saying "You can take it; be strong," Jones testified.

All five defendants are charged with violating a state law that makes hazing a third-degree felony, with penalties ranging from probation to five years in prison if it results in death or "serious bodily injury."

That term, not defined in the law, is a key issue in the case. Defense lawyers contend Jones' injuries were not serious.

Dr. David Fern, who did surgery on Jones, testified Thursday that the injury to his buttocks was as serious as anything he had seen from an auto accident.

But he later acknowledged it was confined to a small patch of skin, had healed nicely and that Jones suffered no broken bones or damage to muscle, nerves or veins.

Jones, a sophomore majoring in environmental studies, has not returned to school since the hazing.

The university has suspended the accused fraternity brothers pending the trial's outcome and banished Kappa Alpha Psi from campus until 2013.

[Last modified September 30, 2006, 01:32:00]