Students stay out of court

For about 169 students, Little 500 week ended with four to five hours of picking up trash around campus Sunday to help make restitution for crimes committed during the week, said prosecutor Carl Salzmann. Garbage collection is just one facet of the Defendant Accountability Program, which helps educate students and keeps their cases out of a courtroom. \n"The program recognizes that we are a university community," Salzmann said. "We've all gone to college and understand that people are testing the social boundaries and norms." \nPreviously known as "pre-trial diversion," the Defendant Accountability Program allows students who are issued citations for nonviolent misdemeanors, usually alcohol violations, to have their cases dismissed pending completion of the program. Offenders must pay $421 in fines, attend an alcohol class and help clean up the community on "road crew," Salzmann said. \n"When filling out a job application, students who complete the program will be able to say truthfully that they have never been convicted of a crime," Salzmann said. \nOnce the program is completed, students must stay out of trouble for one full year, Salzmann said. If arrested again, the first case will be reactivated and all the money paid in fees will go to waste, he said. \nHowever, most people never re-offend, Salzmann said. He estimated that less than 10 percent of the people in the program are arrested again during this year. \n"Stubbing your toe one time should not destroy your future," Salzmann said. \nIn light of the number of arrests usually made during Little 500 week, the Defendant Accountability Program offers a unique arrangement for those issued citations during this time, Salzmann said. If a student attended a special Sunday court created to deal with the great number of offenses at this time, his or her required road crew and alcohol class time would be cut in half. \n"It helps the community, having people going out and cleaning up the mess that they helped create," Salzmann said. "And Sunday court keeps the courtroom from getting clogged because of the number of people arrested that weekend."\nThe IU Police Department issued 23 citations this year, down from about 42 last year, Lt. Jerry Minger said. However, the fees collected if these individuals enter the Defendant Accountability Program do not go toward IU, he said. \n"An offense would have been committed on IU property, detected and cited by IU law enforcement," Minger said. "But I have no knowledge that any of that $421 that the people pay goes back to the University." \nHowever, not everyone is sure that the program is always a good idea. Bloomington criminal defense attorney David Schalk suggests that some students choose to do the program because it is easier than trying to fight a case in court. \n"Students tend to think that the court is stacked against them," Schalk said. \nThat's not to say that the program is entirely a bad idea, cautions Schalk. Most people should enter the program if they know that they are guilty and their constitutional rights were not violated because it is better than being convicted of a crime in court. However, the problem is when innocent students accept the program rather than going to trial. \n"People underestimate the stigma," Schalk said. "They think, 'I won't have a conviction on my record,' but on job applications they can ask whether you were in DAP." \nIt comes down to knowing your rights, Schalk said. Students can be too intimidated by police officers to refuse to let them enter a private residence or search a vehicle without a warrant. \n"Sometimes excise cops will go into a bar, order the lights turned on and ID everyone there," Schalk said. "That is a violation of the 4th Amendment and of Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures." \nIn such a case, a student could likely have a case dismissed in court on constitutional grounds, Schalk said. The process, however, is longer and more expensive. Though fees for different attorneys vary, his flat fee for such a minor case, not including a jury trial or appeal, is about $1,000. Still, he believes it is worth it. \n"The worst thing you can have is a conviction on your record," Schalk said. "The second worst is being in the DAP program because it is right there in the name, 'accountability.' Even if you didn't do it, it sounds like you did"