Annotations, South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 1, Ed. 1, Summer, 1986 Page: 4 of 12
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Page 4
ANNOTATIONS
Summer, 1986
ANNOTATIONS
INTERVIEW
Chief Prosecutor:
STCL Honor Court
By Tom Laucius
Roving Rogue Reporter
Q: Congratulations on your appointment as Chief Prosecutor of the
Honor Court, Bill. What prompted you to seek this position?
A: I had been in Professor Marcell's Legislation class this past Spring
semester. Part of the curriculum in that class was that we broke into
three groups; one group worked on redrafting the election code,
another did the constitution, and the other did the honor court. I
was among the group working on the honor code, and consequently
I re£fl it over many times and became very familiar with it. We did
notice quite a few problems with it. When I saw that the position
was coming up for chief prosecutor of the honor court I became in-
terested in applying for it.
Q: What do you think qualified you most for this position?
A: I believe because of the legislation class that I know the honor code
better than the average student does. I know the procedure by which
it is governed, as well as the violations, and I feel like that qualifies
me to do the job.
Q: Do you see yourself working as a prosecutor when you become an
attorney?
A: Yes. Hopefully. My goal is to work for a District Attorney's office
somewhere in this state.
Q: What is your prosecutorial philosophy?
A: If you look in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, I believe it's
Section 201, it says it's the duty of each prosecutor not to seek con-
victions, but to see that-justice is done. And even though the honor
code does not adopt the code of criminal procedure, I feel like that's
the kind of philosophy and kind of the governing mood that they
should take, just to be fair.
Q: You don't envision your job as seeking out honor code violators?
A: When there's evidence to suggest that someone has violated the
honor code, and I believe that evidence can be strong and solid and
warrant a conviction, then yes, I will seek it out.
Q: Who submits most of the complaints regarding honor code viola-
tions?
A: They are supposed to come from any student or professor who has
observed a violation.
Q: Do you intend to have students acting as confidential informants
for you?
A: There could be a problem with confidentiality. I don't know the ex-
act section in the honor code, but there is a section where it speci-
fically spells out that a student has a duty to report any honor code
violations he may witness. You might have a problem with confi-
dentiality in the sense that somebody who witnesses an honor code
violation might have to testify against the accused eventually. It is
simply the duty of any student to report what he sees.
Q: But you won't try to get a group of people together . . .
A: (Laughs) I'm not offering a crime stoppers type deal.
Q: What is the procedure once you receive a complaint of a violation?
A: The procedure is that the honor code prosecutor receives the com-
plaint from whomever and thereupon it becomes his duty to inves-
tigate the complaint. If there is merit to the complaint, if the
evidence is sufficient, it becomes the honor court chief prosecutor's
duty to fill out a bill of complaint before the honor court and it's a
lot like any other court proceeding. You just basically put on your
evidence, or if a plea bargain can be struck, do something in that
direction.
Q: Are violations adjudicated strictly by the honor code on a case by
case basis, or is there also precedent and case law which applies?
A: (Laughs) I don't think we have a South Texas College of Law
Reporter of any kind of case law. I'm not aware of it. I believe there
are records regarding previous cases, but I don't know what kind. I
don't know if you can seriously consider it case law.
William Rowlett was recently appointed Chief
Prosecutor of the STCL Honor Court by the SB A
Board of Governors. This interview took place
shortly after his appointment.
Q: Do you have any objections to a licensed attorney representing an
alleged honor code violator? "Racehorse" Haynes, for example?
A: No, I don't have any objections, and as a matter of fact the accused
has that right. He has the right to be represented by anyone he so
chooses, including a law school professor or a licensed attorney or
whomever; he has that right, so it's not whether I object, it's
whether he has that right. And he does.
Q: Will you always seek the maximum penalty available for the par-
ticular violation?
A: It depends on the circumstances of each case.
Q: What are your views on plea bargaining?
A: If a deal can be struck between the chief prosecutor and the accused
which is fair to everyone involved, and the accused will agree to it,
then that's the way it should be. Just like any other area of plea bar-
gaining or settlement out of court in a civil case.
Q: Does it not raise ethical questions to plea bargain on what is in
essence an ethical question in the first place?
A: What?
Q: (Repeats question)
A: I believe that the honor code does allow plea bargaining. I'm not
certain about that so don't hold me to it. I also know it's been a long
established and recognized practice. Plea bargaining has occurred
between chief prosecutors and defendants in the past. Why upset
that apple cart when it has been a long recognized tradition?
Q: Should professors be accountable as well as students when they par-
ticipate in an honor code violation?
A: Yeah, but you know the problem is they can't really . . . They
should be, but you can't bring a professor up before the honor court
and prosecute him. There are no provisions for that. But they
should be accountable, yes.
Q: What are the most severe Honor Court penalties that have been
levied in the past year?
A: Of those that I am aware of, it has been probation and a failing
grade. I'm not aware that anybody has been expelled.
Q: Finally, Bill, in your opinion, what do you consider to be the most
serious kind of honor code violation?
A: That's the easiest question, I guess. It's simple cheating on final
exams. When a student cheats on a final exam, it's a lot like shop-
lifting. The shoplifter steals from a store and it's the honest
customers who have to pay for his stealing, and it's the same for a
person who cheats on a final exam. If his grade is higher than it
should be, it ruins the curve for the honest students.
Q: What about book ripping up?
A: (Laughs) What?
Q: Ripping pages out of library books. That seems serious, doesn't it?
A: That is a serious problem, but I don't believe it is as serious when
you consider that there are other law libraries in town that a student
could go to, and hopefully the same thing doesn't happen there.
Q: I see. Well, then, if you feel that cheating is the worst honor code
violation, what do you feel is the most applicable penalty for that?
A: My position on that would be to settle for no little less a penalty than
a failing grade in that course, and for the honor court chief prosecu-
tor to request no less a penalty. It's up to the court to decide what
punishment to assess, but that certainly will be the chief
prosecutor's position, in those circumstances of deliberate cheating,
to request a failing grade.
Q: But you would accept a plea bargain in a cheating case?
A: If it includes the failing grade, yes.
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Cunningham, Ben J. Annotations, South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 1, Ed. 1, Summer, 1986, newspaper, 1986; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144440/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting South Texas College of Law.