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Florida Supreme Court To Hear FAMU Hazing Appeal

Former FAMU bandmember Robert Champion died after a hazing ritual in Orlando in 2011.
Former FAMU bandmember Robert Champion died after a hazing ritual in Orlando in 2011.

The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the appeal on Wednesday of Dante Martin. He’s the former Florida A&M University band member convicted in a 2011 hazing death.

Drum major Robert Champion and his FAMU bandmates were in Orlando for the Florida Classic football game when he died after taking part in a ritual known as “Crossing Bus C.”

It involves walking the length of a bus while a gauntlet of band members beat him with belts, mallets and drum sticks.

Dante Martin was convicted of manslaughter and hazing, and he was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

More than a dozen other band members were charged, many of them settled.

His attorneys are appealing saying Florida’s hazing statue is unconstitutionally vague, and that participation in the ritual was voluntary.