The case of alleged bribery against Student Association Treasurer Mazin Kased was officially handed over to the Student-wide Judiciary on Wednesday, as an SA committee chose to defer the decision.
After several hours of deliberation, the seven-person Election & Credentials Committee did not rule on the individual charges, but rather voted to move the case along to the SWJ. Committee chair Avneet Jacob could not be reached to comment, but the case's inevitable progress towards the judiciary most likely affected the ruling.
Matthew Pelkey, who submitted the original charges to SA almost a year ago with his Reform Our Campus party, recently filed the case with University Police. An investigation is underway, the results of which would have put the situation in the judiciary's hands regardless of Wednesday's hearing.
And even without the police probe, the committee's decision would have been challenged, since Pelkey planned to appeal any ruling in favor of SA, and SA officials said they would appeal a decision against them.
All the charges and counter-charges, which also include slander and perjury, stem from a recorded conversation between Kased and Francisco Baiocchi, who was running with Pelkey for a SUNY delegate position in last spring's election. On the tape, Kased offered Baiocchi a future job with SA if he dropped from the race.
Headed by Jacob, the committee is made up of six Assembly members who are voted into the positions. SA Assembly Chair Hassan Shibly said each of this year's members was chosen for their lack of bias.
"They were not involved in SA last year, completely fresh faces who did not hear about the story beforehand," Shibly said.
Ultimately, the case was going to the judiciary no matter what, Shibly said, although if the Assembly really wanted to, it could halt SWJ appointments as a preventative move.
Now the judiciary will consider the case while waiting for the results of officer Daniel Jay's investigation.
"This shouldn't have ever evolved into the problem it did," Shibly said.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
