Hazing Investigation Cases Closed

By Eric Blaisdell
TIMES-ARGUS
BARRE, Vt. — The second and final public criminal case involving the investigation into waterboarding and branding at Norwich University has wrapped up, with the former student involved receiving a fine.

Amanda Lodi, 23, of Acton, Massachusetts, had been charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment. Lodi’s case was dismissed with prejudice following a hearing Thursday in Washington County criminal court in Barre.

Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault and Lodi’s attorney, David Sleigh, reached an agreement in the case whereby Thibault would drop the charge and in exchange Lodi would pay $300 on a civil hazing ticket issued by Northfield police.

Judge Kevin Griffin accepted the plea agreement at Thursday’s hearing. Lodi was not in attendance for the hearing.

Student Bryana Pena, 22, of Brockton, Massachusetts, had been charged with a misdemeanor count of simple assault. Pena’s case was dismissed by Thibault on Nov. 3.

The prosecutor said in his notice dismissing the case he took that action, “in consideration of the Defendant’s satisfaction of Norwich University community service requirements and completion of a reflective essay concerning the impacts of hazing.”

The civil hazing ticket issued against Pena is pending.

In the one-page, two-paragraph essay, obtained by The Times Argus through a public records request, Pena wrote that since this incident she has learned more about hazing, which has opened her eyes. She said some students who participate have lost their lives and many don’t recognize how serious of a problem it is until they have their own interaction and see the dangers. She wrote hazing can cause psychological and physical trauma.

A third student also had been charged criminally in the matter, but that case was filed in family court because the student was treated as a youthful offender. That means the case is now confidential, and it’s unclear whether it is still active or whether the case has resolved and what the outcome was.

Three students also faced civil hazing tickets following the investigation.

Morgan Butcher, 21, of Burlington, Massachusetts, did not contest the ticket and accepted a $1,000 fine.

Ember Rousseau, 21, of St. Johnsbury, and Kennedy Mack, 22, of Staten Island, New York, did contest their tickets. The state Judicial Bureau held merits hearings on the tickets on July 18. The tickets were dismissed because the officer who issued them, Karie Tucker, did not appear for the hearings.

Police said a sixth student, Caitlin Burke, 20, of Greenwich, Connecticut, also had been issued a civil hazing ticket, but there is no information in court records stating that ticket was ever filed in the state’s system.

All of the students were members of the women’s rugby team at the time of the incident, except for Pena who was a member of the women’s lacrosse team. Burke, Butcher and Rousseau are part of the rugby team’s 2022-23 roster, according to the school’s website.

Marcus Popiolek, vice president of marketing and communications at Norwich, did not return a request for comment by deadline on Friday.

According to court records, in March police received a report stating someone was being held at knifepoint at the school. Tucker said in her affidavit Lodi was found intoxicated inside her room in Dodge Hall. Lodi reported a male had taken a knife from her, but police later said there was no evidence to support her claims.

While investigating the incident, Tucker said she was told by a witness that Lodi had been branded. The officer said she spoke with Lodi about this, and Lodi had reported she was branded in her dorm room by members of the rugby team. Lodi reported she was “pretty (expletive) drunk” at the time and would not have consented to the brand had she been sober, according to court records.

Court records show students have been known to brand each other at Norwich using brass from Corps of Cadets uniforms.

Tucker said Lodi reported Pena and Rousseau were involved in the branding and Burke may have been there. She said Lodi reported she had also been in Mack’s room during that evening.

Tucker said Lodi gave her permission to look at Lodi’s cellphone as part of the investigation. The officer said she saw a video on the phone’s Snapchat app where it appeared Lodi was holding down a chair while a second female poured liquid onto a piece of cloth covering a third female’s face, an action described as waterboarding. Tucker said the video came from a Snapchat account named “Bry,” which she believed belonged to Pena.

Search warrants were executed at the school on April 1. According to court records, police searched two dorm rooms in Dodge Hall and sought investigative material, including body camera footage and any documents about the incident, from the school. In one of the rooms, police obtained a cellphone, a MacBook, an iPad and four white washcloths, according to court records. Nothing was taken from the other room.

Tucker said she spoke with the head coach of the women’s rugby team at Norwich, Austin Hall, as part of the investigation and showed him the waterboarding video. Hall reported it appeared Lodi and Rousseau were waterboarding a teammate, according to court records.

Thibault said the resolutions he reached with Lodi and Pena were premised on the goals of acceptance of responsibility and some form of reflection or consequence. The prosecutor said the investigation and litigation in the cases provided mitigating evidence, “and taken in conjunction with Norwich University’s response, there was little reason to seek outcomes that were punitive or of a nature to create a potentially life long impact with a conviction.”

“What occurred was unacceptable, and youth cannot serve as a total excuse, but I am confident that this process was eye opening to all involved,” he said.

He said he hoped the situation highlighted for students in either college or high school that there is a line to be drawn between camaraderie and hazing and there can be major consequences for abusing a fellow student or teammate.

The investigation also highlighted friction between the police department and the school. Emails obtained by The Times Argus through a public records request showed the school, on advice from legal counsel, had decided it would not provide body camera footage, or other investigative materials, from its security personnel to law enforcement without a subpoena. The emails stemmed from an incident separate from the hazing investigation. This stance by the school led police to obtain the search warrants.

Thibault said he hopes in the future there will be greater cooperation and collaboration between the school and police where there are public safety concerns of mutual interest.

“Also, while not under ideal circumstances, I had the opportunity to interact with senior leadership at Norwich University and appreciate their commitment to student safety, and believe Norwich’s internal responses were fair, just, and proportionate — which in many ways eliminated the need for a traditional criminal justice response,” the prosecutor said.

eric.blaisdell @timesargus.com