Charges against him will be dismissed if he successfully completes probation, a judge ruled.
Malcolm Chu speaks over a bullhorn as supporters of Jason Vassell gather on Masonic Street Friday morning. The former UMass student was sentenced to 2½ years of probation.This is a 12:17 p.m. update of a story posted at 11:33 this morning.
NORTHAMPTON – Jason W. Vassell and his supporters had to wait until they left Hampshire Superior Court Friday to cheer the resolution of his case after 2½ years, but once on the street there was no lack of celebration.
According to the terms of an agreement between the Northwestern District Attorney’s office and the defense, Vassell 23, will have the two charges of aggravated assault and battery against him dropped in two months, provided he does not violate the terms of his probation.
The deal was touted as a victory for the Justice For Jason group that maintained the case against him was racially tainted and put an end to more than two years of anxiety for Vassell, who was a student at the University of Massachusetts when a Feb. 3, 2008 fight in his dormitory made him a racial cause celebre and put his future in limbo.
On that night, according to police reports, two white men, Jonathan Bosse and John C. Bowes, accosted Vassell from outside the window of his room with racial epithets and threats. Later, the two men, who were not UMass students, entered the building uninvited and got into a fight with Vassell. Vassell stabbed the men and had his nose broken. While Vassell was charged with two felonies, Bowes was charged with disorderly conduct and a civil rights violation, both misdemeanors. A jury found him guilty of disorderly conduct but acquitted him of the civil rights count. Bosse was not charged.
View full sizeJason W. Vassell, center, sits in Hampshire Superior Court Friday morning surrounded by friends and family members. Vassell’s lawyers, David P. Hoose and Luke Ryan, maintained that Vassell’s arrest and prosecution were racially influenced. A judge allowed their request that the district attorney’s office hand over its files of cases involving race. Legally haggling over that motion dragged Vassell’s case out for more than a year.
Anticipating a resolution, Justice for Jason members packed the courtroom Friday as they have throughout Vassell’s trial. In 2008, the group staged a rally and march that ended outside the Northwestern District Attorney’s office. Vassell’s mother, aunts and other family members were also present in court.
Under the agreement, Vassell must serve out a 2½-year probationary period that began more than two years ago when he was released on pre-trial probation. Among the terms of his release, he must remain alcohol free, live with his parents, stay away from Bosse and Bowes and abide by the law. If he successfully completes the term in two months, the charges against him will be dismissed and his record will be clear.
Judge Judd J. Carhart said he had reviewed the evidence in the case and called the resolution “appropriate.” The two sides had different views of the agreement, however.
Jason Vassell, left, and his mother, Esmie James, listen during a press conference in Northampton Friday morning.
More details coming in The Republican.