3rd FAMU Band Member Pleads No Contest
A third band member charged with the hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major pleaded no contest yesterday and agreed to testify against the remaining 11 defendants. 24 year-old Caleb Jackson pleaded no contest to manslaughter and felony hazing. By pleading no contest, Jackson does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. Jackson will be sentenced in the fall after giving testimony to prosecutors about what happened to drum major Robert Champion as he walked down a gauntlet of other band members who beat him with fists and mallets on a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel in November 2011. Champion collapsed and later died. Circuit Judge Marc Lubet warned Jackson that he could face a maximum of 35 years in prison if he changed his mind and didn’t cooperate.
