Nicholas Kenyon, a student charged in last summer's cheating scandal at Hanover High School, stood trial Tuesday afternoon at Lebanon District Court, but the court has yet to reach a verdict. Kenyon is charged with serving as an accomplice to theft. Peter Miller, another student, pled guilty to the same charge while a third student, Jeffrey Fairbrothers, had his trial delayed until March. The court will make a final decision on Kenyon's case in April.
Prosecutor Christopher O'Connor originally charged Kenyon and Miller for accomplice to trespassing, while Fairbrothers faced charges of criminal trespassing. O'Connor changed the charges of all three to accomplices to theft on Feb. 5, just seven days before the trial date.
Kenyon and Fairbrothers' defense attorneys argued that O'Connor had shown "prejudice and prosecutorial misconduct" by changing the charges so close to the set trial date and asked that the charges be dismissed.
"The prosecution has discretion, but it cannot be abused," Scott McGee, the defense attorney for Fairbrothers, said during the trial.
O'Connor claimed he had warned the defendants that he would examine all possible charges, including accomplice to theft, if the students rejected the original plea bargain.
The judge did not agree that the charges against Kenyon and Fairbrothers should be dismissed, but said he was "disappointed in the state's tactics of prosecution." Although Fairbrothers' trial date was moved to March, the judge decided to hold Kenyon's trial as scheduled. O'Connor must file any new charges against Fairbrothers by Friday.
O'Connor called several witnesses against Kenyon, including the dean of students at Hanover High, the math teacher whose exam was stolen and Hanover Police Department detective Frank Moran. The prosecution contended that Kenyon had entered Hanover High after school hours and acted as a "lookout" for the group of students who allegedly stole the exams. Moran testified that Kenyon told him during their interview that he and two friends had accepted this task and received one of the stolen tests.
Kenyon's attorney noted that Moran had not recorded the interview, and concluded that testimony based on this interview could be inaccurate. He also argued that Moran's report included many assumptions, including his conclusion that Kenyon was acting as a "lookout" rather than just checking his locker. Kenyon's attorney also mentioned that Kenyon's arrest warrant did not document that he had received a stolen exam.
The court will announce its verdict on Kenyon's case on April 14.
In a hearing immediately preceding Kenyon's trial, Miller pled guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to 25 hours of community service and a $750 fine.
