Defendants Russell Taylor and Adam Marszal pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing in the death of Carson Starkey Thursday morning in a San Luis Obispo County courtroom. They will serve 30 days in county jail, be placed on misdemeanor probation for three years and must serve either 40 hours of community service or give two presentations to students on the dangers of hazing, according to KSBY news article.

Taylor and Marszal were two of four defendants in the case and will report to jail Sept. 17.

Two other defendants, Zachary Ellis and Haithem Ibrahim, were sentenced June 8 to 145 and 45 days respectively in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor hazing. They too will also be placed in three years of informal probation.

Starkey, 18, died Dec. 2, 2008 during a fraternity pledge party at Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE). He was found unresponsive at a house after an initiation event called “Brown Bag Night” where pledges were given large quantities of alcohol.

Taylor, Marszal, Ellis and Haithem reportedly tried to take Starkey to the hospital that night but returned back to the home after Starkey began vomiting in the car. The next morning he was taken to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center where his autopsy showed he died of respiratory arrest due to alcohol poisoning and his blood alcohol ratio was between .39 and .45 percent.

Starkey’s death also brought a civil lawsuit between his parents and nine former SAE members including the four being sentenced to jail.

Two defendants charged with felony hazing in the criminal trial of late Cal Poly freshman Carson Starkey pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing charges and will serve jail time.

Zachary Ellis and Haithem Ibrahim, former members of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), will serve 120 and 45 days respectively in county jail and three years of informal probation as sentenced by San Luis Obispo Judge Michael Duffy on June 8.

Deputy District Attorney Craig Van Rooyen was in charge of the case and communicated with the Starkey family about the final decisions.

“This is supported by the Starkey family,” Van Rooyen said.

After Ellis and Ibrahim were sentenced, Starkey’s family was quoted in a press release issued by the non-profit organization WithCarson, which the Starkey family set up to fight hazing after their son died as a result of respiratory arrest due to alcohol poisoning following a SAE pledge event in December 2008.

“Carson told us he was looking for brotherhood,” Carson’s mother Juila said. “Would you call the way you treated him brotherhood? Your actions and your choices to not help him that night are memories you and I will have to live with the rest of our lives.”

Scott Starkey told Ellis and Ibrahim that they failed his son.

“Your culture failed him. Your organization failed him. Your failed attempts at brotherhood failed him,” he said.

The attorneys for both Ellis and Ibrahim did not return calls by press time.

Van Rooyen said it is important for fraternities to know that dangerous initiation practices can constitute criminal conduct.

“This sends the message that this type of conduct will not be tolerated,” he said. “We are taking Matt’s Law seriously.”

Matt’s Law is a California law in memory of Matthew Carrington, a student at California State University, Chico who died in 2005. The law allows felony prosecutions for serious injuries or deaths from hazing crimes.

Two more former SAE members, Adam Marszel and Russell Taylor, are still set to face misdemeanor charges July 1.

A civil suit against the former SAE members, the officers of the local SAE chapter at the time of Starkey’s death and the national chapter is ongoing.

Tim Miller, Kevin List and Raquel Redding contributed to this report.

Two former Sigma Alpha Epsilon members charged with felony hazing in the death of former Cal Poly freshman Carson Starkey were sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor hazing according to a press release with Carson.com, a website operated by Starkey’s parents Julia and Scott.

The press release said Haithem Ibrahim and Zacary Ellis were sentenced by San Luis Obispo Judge Michael Duffy to 45 days and 120 days in jail, respectively.

Carson Starkey died Dec. 2, 2008 of respiratory arrest due to alcohol poisoning following a SAE pledge event where Starkey was “given copious amounts of alcohol to drink as part of a hazing ritual for the fraternity,” as was reported in a previous Mustang Daily article.

Leaders of Cal Poly’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) recently announced a new policy that will defer first-quarter students from joining a fraternity.

The changes will take effect fall quarter 2010 with the intention of giving new students a chance to adjust academically and socially before considering the demands of the greek system, according to Student Life and Leadership director Ken Barclay.

“The concern is that first-time freshmen aren’t given enough time to get comfortable with the university,” Barclay said. “Students will have a quarter under their belt to get to know leaders of a fraternity before rushing.”

The university’s new mandate makes it so incoming freshmen and transfer students will only be allowed to formally join a greek fraternity beginning their second quarter.

“I have to give credit to the IFC for taking the initiative to do this,” Barclay said.

The alcohol-related death of Carson Starkey in 2008 sparked questions about the pledging process. Starkey was part of an alleged hazing incident in Dec. 2008 while pledging Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was a freshman finishing his first quarter at Cal Poly at the time of his death.

Assistant IFC director Matt Lancara said the climate in the greek system is definitely different after the Starkey incident, but there is not necessarily a direct relationship between the mandate and the tragic event.

“We are acting in a way that is responsible and proactive to shape the greek system to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,” Lancara said.

Since the IFC proposed the change from previous years, the rule only applies to the 17 fraternities. Sororities will still be allowed to have newcomers rush during fall quarter, but the Panhellenic council is considering the idea of deferring rush as well.

“We can better prepare men for what they are getting themselves into,” Lancara said. “They can get their bearings around campus … and when winter comes around, they can make a more educated decision.”

Deferring rush is not new to Cal Poly. It was mandated in the past but only for brief periods of time.

“It’s something that’s indefinite,” Lancara said. “We want to see if it will actually change numbers. It’s pretty much an experiment.”

Wishing to remain anonymous, a Cal Poly senior who has been in the fraternity system since he was a sophomore, said the majority of his fraternity and other people in the greek system he has talked to are not thrilled about deferring rush for fall quarter. Even alumni are upset, he said.

“It’s really unfortunate,” he said. “It’s going to force all the frats to impress people during fall quarter, which could mean even more parties without the structure of rushing. Fall rush is about 90 percent freshmen … so it makes our whole situation that much more difficult.”

Concerned about the number of available pledges, he said fewer members will also mean fewer people for fall philanthropy, such as food drives.

Barclay explained members of the greek system in the past have asked to have deferred rush reconsidered because of a fear of losing numbers. He believes the recent mandate won’t hurt membership.

“That’s just an assumption,” he said. “There is no data to prove that they lost members. I think this is best for everybody. It’s best for the greeks, and it’s best for the students.”

IFC President Andy Farrell said this is the right move for the fraternity system.

“I believe the good this will do is greater than the damage,” Farrell said.

Stock image

A San Luis Obispo judge delayed setting a date for the civil trial brought by the parents of Carson Starkey.

The wrongful death suit was filed against nine former members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the national Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at Cal Poly. Four of the former members are also currently being criminally tried.

The decision to set a trial date will be pushed back to March 18 after Douglas Fierberg, the lawyer for Julia and Scott Starkey, submits a case management proposal. The proposal is being required by judge Charles Crandall, after several of the defense lawyers raised questions about the conflict with the criminal proceedings, which are underway against four of the defendants in the civil trial.

Normally in a civil trial, defendants are compelled to testify about the events relevant to the case, but because of the two trial’s defendant conflicts regarding Starkey’s death, they may plead their fifth amendment rights in the civil case.

In court, Fierberg said that he thinks there is enough other evidence in the case to keep going with the civil suit. If judge Crandall does not agree with Fierberg after the case management report is submitted, Fierberg could delay the civil trial up to four years.

“We will not stop until everyone who was responsible for Carson’s death is held responsible,” Fierberg said.

The civil complaint filed by the Starkeys claims the defendants should have known that fraternity traditions like the “brown bag night” have a long-documented risk of death and serious injury.

“(The) defendants deliberately/purposefully took no reasonable, effective measures to enforce risk management policies to stop long-standing and dangerous pledging traditions … conscious of the dangers posed to pledges like Carson,” the complaint read.

Carson Starkey died on Dec. 2, 2008 after allegedly attending a fraternity event the night before. It was alleged fraternity members forced him to drink a large amount of alcohol. Starkey died from respiratory arrest due to acute ethanol toxicity or alcohol poisoning. Starkey’s blood alcohol concentration was between 0.39 and 0.45.

The case was filed on Sep. 22, 2009 to coincide with the beginning of the school year, said Ivo Labar, another lawyer representing the Starkeys.

The amount of money the Starkeys are suing for will be determined later.

The Starkey family has started a non-profit organization called With Carson, which aims to educate students about alcohol. A bill was also passed in Texas, Starkey’s home state, called the Carson Starkey Alcohol Awareness and Education Act.

“We will continue to honor Carson by doing everything we can to end wide-spread misconduct by fraternities,” Scott Starkey said in a press release last fall. “By bringing this lawsuit, we hope to bring attention to the dangers of hazing, cause fundamental change in fraternities and prevent other families from suffering as we have.”

Stock image

A San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge denied a motion to dismiss the cases against Zachary Ellis and Haithem Ibrahim, the two former Sigma Alpha Epsilon members charged with felony hazing causing death of former Cal Poly freshman Carson Starkey.

On Monday Ellis and Ibrahim’s lawyers moved to dismiss the case due to insufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing in August. Their lawyers plan to appeal Monday’s decision not to dismiss the case in California 2nd District Court of Appeals in Ventura, which they must do by Jan. 26.

Both Ellis’ attorney, Richard Conway, and Ibrahim’s, Michael Burt, have argued that each pledge at the event on Dec. 1 voluntarily chose to drink the amount of alcohol he did.

Starkey died Dec. 2, 2008, of respiratory arrest due to alcohol poisoning; his blood alcohol concentration was between 0.39 and 0.45. The previous night he attended Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s pledge event called “Brown Bag Night,” where the 18-year-old was given copious amounts of alcohol to drink as part of a hazing ritual for the fraternity.

Ellis, Ibrahim, Marszel and Taylor were taking Starkey to the hospital the night of the pledge event but turned the car around when he vomited.

Marszel and Taylor  pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges for hazing causing death and furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death. Ibrahim and Ellis are also being tried with misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death.

Carson’s parents, Scott and Julia Starkey, filed a civil lawsuit against the national fraternity, the local chapter and nine individual former SAE members on Sept. 22. In addition to five officers of the local SAE chapter at the time of Starkey’s death, Haithem Ibrahim, Zacary Ellis, Adam Marszel and Russell Taylor are being charged in the suit. A judge will  set the schedule for the civil trial on Jan. 26.