A Brooklyn woman who is a Harvard University senior has been barred from graduation next month due to her connection to the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man in a university dorm last week.
Police have arrested Manhattan resident Jabrai Jordan Copney, 20, for the murder of Justin Cosby; police said Copney, whose girlfriend is a senior at Harvard, and two other men intended to rob Cosby of marijuana and money. Two (unidentified) female Harvard students are described as “the nexus between Cosby and Copney.”
A lawyer for the Harvard senior told the Boston Globe, “This is a highly educated, independent young woman who has literally been cared for since she was a teenager by Harvard – and now they have terminated her right to be on campus. There is no justification for it. She may have known the people involved, but you know, it’s not guilt by association in this country.”
The student was also kicked out of her dorm, Kirkland House, which is where the shooting took place; a previous report said that Copney’s girlfriend’s “gave Copney her dorm hall access card, which allowed him to float in and out of Harvard dorms.”
May 24th, 2009 at 10:07PM
“This is a highly educated, independent young woman who has literally been cared for since she was a teenager by Harvard…"
Is she "independent"? Or is she "cared for (since she was a teenager)"?
In other words, is she responsible for allowing an unauthorized individual unlimited access to Harvard facilities (most likely a big no-no in the code of conduct)?
Or is she completely blameless because Harvard was in loco parentis and allowed her to be irresponsible?
It’s all a mess…and, for me, just an extreme example of what can happen when adults get nanny-ed by colleges.
If there is evidence that the young woman violated university policy, then she should be held accountable…even before any criminal investigation.
I do wonder about her right to a fair hearing on this issue, though, since she was kicked off of campus so quickly. Unless Harvard knows more than has been released to the public.
May 25th, 2009 at 7:12AM
A murder committed during the commission of a felony is murder one under the (very) old doctrine of felony-murder. In Mass. there is only one penalty for murder one which is life without parole. Given that accessories to a crime are treated the same as the principal, she could have bigger problems down the road. I am sure the police are asking the Nixon impeachment questions. What did she know? When did she know it? If the police come to believe that she gave him the pass at the time of the planned robbery, and for that purpose, she could find herself a co-defendant in a murder case. It will be interesting to see how they tie this together, if they do.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:21AM
Van is exactly right. Harvard, meanwhile, is running out of time — its control is pretty much gone once the degree is awarded in 10 days or so. This is a murder case, not a drug case. Harvard is pretty relaxed about many transgressions, but does not like murder.
May 25th, 2009 at 9:37AM
Van is correct that the police will be asking the Nixon impeachment questions.
Whoever aids in the commission of a felony, or is an accessory thereto before the fact by counseling, hiring, or otherwise procuring such felony to be committed, shall be punishable in the manner provided for the punishment of the principal felon. Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 274 sec. 2.
Homicide committed during the commission or attempted commission of a felony punishable other than by death or life imprisonment is murder in the second degree, provided that the predicate felony is either inherently dangerous or committed under circumstances that demonstrate the defendant’s conscious disregard of the risk to human life. Commonwealth v. Burton, 452 Mass. 55 (2007).
May 25th, 2009 at 11:35AM
The girlfriend has been ID’d, but she’s not the woman who was kicked off campus. Some of the comments are ugly, and this is just beginning.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05252009/news/regionalnews/gal_pal_idd_in_harvard_murder_170875.htm
May 25th, 2009 at 7:45PM
Hey. How many murders have there been in Harvard’s hoary history? Hmmm.