Fifteen of the 17 charges made against Student Body President Cody Boyer are going to trial.
The senate impeachment committee, including senators Nicholas Patides, Angela Wilson and Carly Chaput, reviewed the charges and decided if the charges could be tried. The committee did not investigate the charges to see if they were true or false, according to Patides’ remarks at the Sept. 10 general assembly.
The committee reviewed the claims made in Attorney General Melanie Mercado’s Aug. 9 memo of impeachment—in which 17 charges were made against Boyer. At general assembly, the committee submitted the articles of impeachment, which moves the proceedings out of the senate impeachment committee and into the hands of the Supreme Court.
Two claims were not moved to trial. The charge that Boyer failed to attend most general assembly meetings failed to move beyond the committee by a vote of 0-3. The second failed claim was that Boyer claimed hours he did not work, failing by a vote of 1-2.
The committee did not rule that these charges were true or false but that they were not charges worthy of ruling by the Supreme Court.
During a Q-and-A at general assembly, the questions posed to the committee were asked by Jared Pieniazek, senate pro-tempore. He asked about the committee’s level of diligence, and if they had been coerced in any way.
“We gave this 100 percent diligence,” Patides said, telling the senate they ended their last meeting, held in the Student Life Center, just before the building closed at 11 p.m. The meeting began at 9 p.m., according to the committee minutes. Patides also said the committee had not been coerced in any way.
Student government also got a taste of what is to come in the trial. After several moments of silence following the Q-and-A, Pieniazek moved on to the next item in the agenda.
Audience member Steven Bird stood up and said that the SG statutes clearly stated a time of discussion must follow the question and answer session.
“There was no discussion, clearly violating the statutes obviously and President Boyer’s due process,” he said to the Senate.
Bird was one of the five people who ran for student body president in the spring semester, and he is no longer a part of SG.
Several members of the senate argued that the silence had provided a time for discussion, but decided to reopen the time to discussion. Bird took the floor and began to defend Boyer.
Chaput said that the decisions regarding the impeachment were out of the Senate’s hands, and the rest of his defenses needed to wait until the trial.
“I am more than happy to save all this for the trial,” Bird said.
The dates and times of the trial have not been set. Stay with The Crow’s Nest for the latest developments on the impeachment proceedings.
