Students accused of serious academic dishonesty or criminal acts on campus could face potentially severe penalties including academic probation or expulsion. If you are facing these potential issues, your college should provide you with due process, including notice of a hearing and an opportunity to defend yourself against these accusations.
If you attend Eagle Gate College and are facing a disciplinary hearing, call Overson Law today. Our disciplinary hearing defense attorneys for Eagle Gate College students represent students in Layton, Murray, and Provo who need assistance with academic disciplinary hearings. For a free consultation, call our lawyers today at (801) 758-2287.
Rights and Due Process for Academic Disciplinary Hearings at Eagle Gate College
If you are accused of serious academic misconduct or code of conduct violations that might involve expulsion or other serious academic penalties, your university is likely required to follow certain rules procedures to ensure that your right to continue seeking education is not infringed without a fair process.
First, the school must provide you with notice of the hearing and the case against you. This prevents you from being caught off guard or subject to “trial by ambush.” The chance to prepare your case ahead of time gives you time to think about your case and how to approach it. It also gives you time to contact an attorney and meet with them to plan for success.
Second, the court must give you an opportunity to defend yourself. This means that during a hearing, you have the right to make opening and closing statements to the panel adjudicating the case as well as the right to cross-examine witnesses and evidence brought against you.
Third, you have the right to an “advisor” in your case. Many people will choose an attorney, but you typically can choose a parent or another advocate instead. Your advisor can speak on your behalf in many situations, such as in the opening or closing statements. Your advisor can also advise you on how to answer questions and should be permitted to question witnesses and sit with you throughout most of the hearing.
Hiring an Attorney for a School Disciplinary Hearing
In many cases, it is vital to hire an attorney to represent you in your school’s disciplinary hearing. Many of these hearings could result in serious penalties such as expulsion or academic probation. If you have the chance to hire an attorney to represent you and help you with your case, you should take it; your lawyer can put their experience with formal hearings and legal arguments to use in your case, working to disprove and fight the allegations.
You have a narrow margin for error in your case. Unlike criminal cases where the standard is “beyond a reasonable double,” the school must prove their case against you “by a preponderance of the evidence.” This means showing it is more likely than not that you did commit the code violation. An attorney can work within these constraints to aggressively challenge the evidence and testimony against you, working to prevent the school from meeting this evidentiary burden.
An attorney’s skill and experience can be vital in building your case. Our attorneys have decades of experience in formal hearings and criminal trials. Our prior experience handling evidence, cross-examining witnesses, and presenting opening and closing statements can help put forth a strong case in the limited time that you have in your hearing. Our experience protecting our clients’ due process rights also enables us to spot potential problems before they arise and work to shut down any violations as they come up.
Our lawyers also handle criminal charges in court. If your code of conduct violation included serious misconduct that could also be reported as a crime, you may need to face criminal charges in a court of law alongside the school hearing. Our attorneys can represent you in both matters, fighting to keep you out of jail and working to keep you in school. Talk to one of our attorneys for help understanding how you could face multiple charges and hearings for the same accusations and how we can fight to protect your rights.
Examples of Academic Misconduct and Code of Conduct Violations
Code of conduct violations are typically broken down into “academic” and “non-academic” violations. Academic violations typically include cheating, plagiarism, and other academic dishonesty. These are likely not crimes in and of themselves, but they can lead to expulsion and other disciplinary measures if they are serious enough. These academic violations would include copying someone else’s answers on a test, turning in someone else’s paper as your own work, or lying to get more time to submit an assignment.
Non-academic code violations include anything else that is against the code of conduct. Most of these violations do not interfere with academics directly, but they may represent character or disciplinary issues that the school will not tolerate. Crimes on campus might be code of conduct violations, such as stealing, drug possession, or underage drinking. In addition, more serious violations like assault or sexual assault are common code of conduct violations that could lead to expulsion or serious penalties after a disciplinary hearing.
Call Our Academic Hearing Defense Lawyers for a Free Consultation for Eagle Gate College Students
Our college disciplinary hearing defense attorneys for Eagle Gate College students represent students in both academic hearings and criminal court cases for code of conduct violations. If you were accused of committing a crime or a serious violation that could lead to jail time or expulsion, contact our lawyers today for a free consultation on your case. Overson Law’s disciplinary and criminal defense lawyers can be reached at (801) 758-2287.
