Florida A&M University's percussionist Dante Martin, 27, is accused of directing a hazing ritual involving the university's celebrated "Marching 100" band that led to the death of Robert Champion, a 26-year-old drum major, according to The New York Times.
"Some might say tradition killed Robert Champion, and there might be some truth to that," prosecutor Jeff Ashton said in his opening statement, The Associated Press reported. "The fact that this is a tradition is no defense to the people involved."
Martin is the first of 14 band members charged in the incident to go to trial, according to the AP. Nine others received probation and community service in plea deals, and one was sentenced to almost a year in jail.
Martin, the percussion section president, is accused of manslaughter, a felony charge of hazing resulting in a death and two misdemeanor counts of hazing, according to the Times. Prosecutors said it was all the hits that killed Champion, not just one of them particularly.
A medical examiner said Champion died of hemorrhagic shock from blunt force trauma after band members beat him on the darkened charter bus, the AP reported.
During a ritual known as "Crossing Bus C," participants made their way from the front to back of the percussionists' travel bus while being kicked, punched, whipped and hammered with drum mallets, according to the AP.
Witness Keon Hollis, also a drum major, testified that he and Champion both participated that evening to gain respect from band members, the Times reported.
Champion died onboard the bus, which brought the band to Orlando in November 2011 for a football game between Florida A&M and another historically black university, according to the AP.
Defense lawyer Dino Michaels said a key trial issue would be whether the ritual fell under an "athletic competition" exemption to the state's anti-hazing law and whether Martin should be held responsible for blows landed by others, the AP reported.
