Lawyer: Incident 'akin to frat frolic'

The five Penn students arrested for assaulting a Princeton University student could each face 49 years in jail if they receive maximum sentences on all charges.

The preliminary hearing to establish whether or not there is enough evidence for the current charges was originally scheduled for yesterday morning but was postponed until Dec. 17.

At the hearing, the court will determine whether or not the students will be held accountable on all the charges, which include aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment of another person's life, terroristic threats and conspiracy to commit a crime. Aggravated assault, which carries the heaviest penalty of 10 to 20 years, and criminal conspiracy are considered felonies. The remainder of the charges are misdemeanors.

The students -- affiliated with the underground Owl Society -- were arrested for allegedly pouring motor oil on and throwing a cigarette at John Brantl, who was visiting Penn for a debate tournament.

At least one of the students, David Hochfelder, will be pleading not guilty to all the charges. According to his attorney Jeffrey Miller, Hochfelder's actions do not warrant criminal charges.

"As far as I know, he is not guilty of any criminal offense," Miller said. "I do not see any violation of criminal law. He did not intend to commit a crime."

According to Miller, the alleged attack was closer to a prank than a criminal assault.

"At most it was a prank run amuck," he said. "The whole incident is more akin to a frat frolic than anything else."

Despite these claims, the DA's office maintains that the current charges are appropriate.

"This was charged as aggravated assault, and we are oriented to that charge," DA spokeswoman Cathie Abookire said.

"We are prosecutors. We don't read minds," Abookire added, despite Miller's claim of his client's intentions.

Jeff Kolansky, attorney for Thomas Bispham Jr., did not comment on what his client plans to plea in the case, but also brought up what he sees as a lack of criminal intent, at least at the start of the incident.

"Although I have represented many Penn students and students from other college campuses, I don't think it is typical or atypical because it started out clearly as some kind of a prank," Kolansky said. "However, once you get a number of people from different schools involved, the state of a prank may change."

Kolansky did say that Bispham is open to the possibility of a settlement out of court.

"We are more than willing to talk about a non-trial disposition," Kolansky said.

The DA's office could not comment on the possibility of reaching an out-of-court agreement.

If the case does go to trial, the series of court proceedings could last for years.

"A criminal case can last anywhere from two months to two years, and that depends on a hundred different circumstances, none of which can be predicted," Kolansky said. "Hopefully it will be resolved very shortly, in 60 to 90 days."

According to Kolansky, the defense attorneys will be working independently of one another during the proceedings.

"We all know each other and respect each other's capabilities, but there are no plans to collaborate in any way," he said.

Miller said that he feels the attorneys are attempting to coordinate their efforts to some extent.

"I think the defense lawyers are all working together not as a team so much as coordinating for the mutual benefit," he said. Each lawyer is dealing "with a different person and different alleged conduct, but we are definitely coordinating our efforts just like the DA and police on the other hand try to coordinate their efforts."

All five students turned themselves in last week, after police obtained warrants for their arrests.

Miller said Hochfelder "surrendered on warrant rather than forcing police" to make an arrest.

"This expedites the preliminary hearing and avoids undue embarrassment for everyone concerned," he added.

Banga's attorney Frank DiSimone declined to comment until the proceedings are completed. The other students' attorneys could not be reached for comment.

Although the students, their attorneys and the prosecution met at the 18th Police District courtroom at 55th and Pine streets yesterday morning, the hearing was moved to the Criminal Justice Center because the proceedings are expected to be lengthy.

"It is normal due to the number of defendants in this case," Assistant District Attorney Nathan Cohen said.

The DA's office did not offer comparisons to previous cases or predictions of an outcome.

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