As a result of a student conduct hearing where the accused male student was denied the right to cross-examine his accuser, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to review the student’s claim that he was denied due process.
The male student was accused of improper sexual conduct by a woman known as Jane Roe. Roe stated that she was too drunk to consent to the contact, but the accused male student said that she willingly participated. At the disciplinary hearing, the university denied the accused male the right to cross-examine his accuser.
Judge Thapart wrote “due process requires cross-examination in circumstances like these because it is the greatest legal engine ever invented for uncovering the truth.”
Hopefully this is a signal to universities around the country that they simply cannot accept an accuser’s statement while denying the accused the due process right of cross-examination.
