The Delta Delta Delta sorority has now been arraigned on two felony counts of providing alcohol to a minor, a penalty which carries a maximum fine of $100,000 for spring violations of New Hampshire State Alcohol laws.
On May first, the Tri-Delt's "Date-A-Delta" party ended when Meredith Scott '96 was arrested for underage possession of alcohol and her roommate Heidi Taylor '96, was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center because of alcohol intoxication.
Carla Manley, the Tri-Delt advisor, said "It is a serious charge and we are taking it quite seriously, and he is advising us." Claude Buttrey of Lebanon is the attorney handling Tri-Delt's defense
According to a clek in the Grafton County Superior Court, the arraignment hearing was waived by defense counsil, and a plea was entered.
"We did wave the arraignment hearing and entered a plea of not guilty," Buttrey said.
The case is currently on hold until the preliminary pre-trial hearing which will occur on November 23. The final pre-trial hearing is scheduled for January 23.
The Sorority violated New Hampshire Legal Statue 179:5- Prohibited Sales, which as stated in the Dartmouth College Student Handbook is a misdemeanor penalty which carries maximum penalties of $1,000 and/or up to 1 year in prison.
The sorority is, however, classified as a corporation, and for that reason they are subject to increased penalties Detective Paulson of the Hanover Police Department said.
Paulson also said that other College Organizations have been brought up on similar charges, most recently the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. In the fall of 1991 SAE was found guilty on four counts of providing alcohol to minors.
The maximum penalty SAE could have recieved was $250,000, but was reduced to $1,600. The event prompted the College to put SAE on probation and resulted in the organization becoming independent.
In the case of Tri-Delt, the College decided against penalizing the sorority. Assistant Dean of Residential life Deb Reinders said the event fell under Dartmouth's "Good Samaritan Clause."
Reinders said that the sorority was treated the same way as any individual College Student would be. She said that even though the clause does not apply to repeated or seious violations of the alcohol policy, Tri-Delt is protected by it.
"I've never had individuals or organizations [abuse] the Good Samaritan Policy," she said.
In addition to the charges of Prohibited Sales, the sorority could be fould guilty of negligent behavior under New Hampshire State Law.
The Law states "service of alcoholic beverages to a minor is negligent if the defendant knows or if a reasonably prudent person in like circumstances would know that the person being served alcohol is a minor."
State Law could assist the defense, however, if the sorority can conclusively prove under the "Responsible Business Practices defense" they acted prudently. The Law states that those individuals or organizations which have "policies which assure the examination of proof of age of individuals who may reasonable be suspected to be minors" and "Comprehensive training" of persons serving alcohol are not responsible.
Tri-Delt's defense attorney said that "to the best of my knowledge the house did everything they were required by law to do." Buttrey also said that he has not yet received the police report and will not know all the facts until he has.
Emily Jones '95, sorority president denied comment. Carla Manley said "the house has been advised to keep its comments to a minimum by the national."
Heidi Taylor was reached at her leave term address but said she "had nothing to say." Meredith Scott was unavailable for comment.
A jury trial is scheduled for the week of February 6-13.
