Theta Delta Chi fraternity will forego an arraignment, originally scheduled for Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., by pleading not guilty to five felony counts of serving alcohol to minors in a formal waiver recently submitted to the Grafton County Superior Court, according to George Ostler '77, Theta Delt's attorney.
The indictments stem from events that occurred Wednesday, Jan. 5, when a Theta Delt member made a "Good Samaritan" call to Safety and Security for help with an intoxicated member of his fraternity. When Safety and Security decided that the student was sufficiently intoxicated to warrant observation at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, it gave the Hanover Police license to run its own investigation.
If the court convicts Theta Delt of all charges, the fraternity could face up to $500,000 in fines.
The indictments do not charge individual people but rather accuse the whole fraternity as an organization. The case, however, will proceed similarly to any felony case against an individual, Grafton County Attorney Rick St. Hilaire said.
"If a corporation is charged, the corporation is treated in much the same way as any individual person would be," St. Hilaire said.
Deputy County Attorney Nancy Gray, the prosecutor personally handling the case, was unavailable for comment.
Ostler, who did not belong to a fraternity during his time at Dartmouth, said it is too early to predict whether the case will come to trial.
"This is an unusual prosecution, so it might take a little longer than some others to get figured out," Ostler said.
The case is currently in the discovery phase, during which the prosecution must turn over to the defense all necessary information, Ostler said.
"[The prosecution] has to make available to us all evidence they're going to rely on," he said.
Neither the Grafton County Attorney's Office nor the Hanover Police Department has divulged what evidence it has uncovered in its investigation.
Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said only that the investigation involved interviewing 19 people affiliated with the fraternity.
At the end of this discovery period, a preliminary pretrial hearing is scheduled to take place May 9. At that hearing, the judge will confirm that the prosecution has provided all the proper information to Theta Delt, St. Hilaire said.
After May 9, the two sides will next meet at the final pretrial hearing July 25, which will mark the last official opportunity for the defendant to change its plea, St. Hilaire said.
If Theta Delt's plea remains not guilty, jury selection for the trial will begin in August, and the trial will presumably start soon afterward.
