HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A federal district judge has sided with Marshall University by throwing out a lawsuit regarding a 2016 sexual assault case.
Alicia Gonzales filed the lawsuit in January, saying the university did not properly handle her case involving then-student Joseph Chase Hardin. Gonzales said Hardin raped her in her bedroom.
The university found Hardin violated the student code of conduct; he appealed the decision. Gonzales said the following behavior was inappropriate, including being improperly crossed-examined by Hardin’s attorneys without counsel present, having most of the hearing unrecorded or unintelligible and the student conduct panel was misled by Hardin’s counsel.
Judge Robert Chamber said he threw out the case because it failed to show Marshall University was “deliberately indifferent.”
“Marshall University is satisfied with the Court’s decision. We will not be making further public comment on this case,” the university said Wednesday.
Hardin is spending one year in jail on a misdemeanor battery charge related to the incident. He is also accused of sexually assaulting two women last fall.