HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Cabell County Circuit Judge Alfred Ferguson is expected to make a decision soon on whether he’ll set bail for former Marshall University student Joseph Chase Hardin.
Hardin, 22, is charged with two counts of second degree sexual assault in connection with alleged separate off-campus incidents with two Marshall female students last fall. The new charges resulted in Ferguson revoking Hardin’s probation in June from a previous conviction involving an on-campus incident with a Marshall female in 2016.
Hardin’s attorney Kerry Nessel asked Ferguson for a new trial date Tuesday along with a request the judge set bail for his client for his possible release after his jail term for the 2016 ends Dec. 5.
Ferguson reset the trial for Feb. 25, 2020 and said he’d take a few days to decide on bail on the 2018 charges.
Marshall kicked Hardin out of school on June 11, four days days after he was booked into the Western Regional Jail. Hardin was originally expelled from Marshall in March 2016 about a month after the first sexual assault. He appealed and a student conduct panel ruled in his favor. After he was sentenced to probation in the 2016 crime he was allowed back on campus with restrictions. Those restrictions were lifted for the Fall 2018 term.
The student who was the victim in the 2016 case filed a lawsuit against Marshall for its handling of the case. A federal judge found in favor of the university in a July 23 summary judgment.