Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Latest Justice for Jason court hearing set for April 1

The Committee for Justice for Jason announced on Friday that a previously scheduled hearing in the two-year-old criminal case against Jason Vassell has been rescheduled for this Thursday, April 1. It remains unclear, however, who requested the date change and the rationale behind it.

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian originally reported in early March that a judge of the Superior Court of Hampshire County postponed a motion on Tuesday, March 2 to dismiss the case against former University of Massachusetts student Vassell until March 26. The motion was proposed in late 2008 by Vassell’s defense team, and seeks to dismiss the charges against Vassell based on claims of selective racial prosecution. That pre-trial hearing for Vassell was to be presented at the courthouse in Northampton on March 2, but was rescheduled at the request of the prosecutor for the case against Vassell, Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Farris.

Vassell was arrested on Feb. 3, 2008 on charges of aggravated assault for allegedly stabbing two white males in a contentious altercation at MacKimmie Hall on the UMass campus.

According to the Committee’s press release, the rescheduled hearing will take place at the Hampshire County courthouse at 15 Gothic St., Northampton at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

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