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High School Expulsion

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lostparent

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

1. Can students written statements be used as evidence in the expulsion of another student? What if those statements were written while under the influence of drugs and/or when they themselves were in possession and involved in the allegations? Who's to say they aren't trying to save their own necks. Would this be considered hearsay?

2. Can students' cell phone text messages be used to help prove/disapprove allegations?

Thank you
 


CdwJava

Senior Member
1. Can students written statements be used as evidence in the expulsion of another student?
Of course. Though the names would likely be redacted for the privacy of the involved student who wrote it.

What if those statements were written while under the influence of drugs and/or when they themselves were in possession and involved in the allegations?
Okay ... what if? Unless they were so out of it as to be incoherent, they are likely to be considered as valid as they can be.

Who's to say they aren't trying to save their own necks. Would this be considered hearsay?
What the other student has to say about what he or she did, said, or heard is not "hearsay." And, remember, a school administrative process is not a court of law so laws concerning hearsay do not generally apply.

And if the statement is thought to be self-serving, suspect, or false, credibility can certainly be brought up in any expulsion hearing.

2. Can students' cell phone text messages be used to help prove/disapprove allegations?
They can be if they are volunteered. The school is not going to have the ability to get a search warrant to obtain these records.

Why don't you tell us what actually happened?
 

GaAtty

Member
GaAtty

California, like most states, has determined that the use of hearsay written statements in school proceedings is a denial of due process. The student has a constitutional right to confront and cross-examine his accuser. While strict rules of evidence may not apply at school hearings, the student's due process rights do apply. The written statements alone, without the testimony in the hearing of the student who wrote the statement, is a denial of due process.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
What the OP described was not hearsay. A statement written by someone that may or may not have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol does not constitute hearsay.

These written statements can and will be used in the decision to suspend a pending expulsion. The suspension or expulsion hearing - IF the parents contest the expulsion - is where any "case" might be presented, including the cross examination of witnesses.

Most expulsion cases do not go that far but some do.
 

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