Violations denied by justices
J-Board members say accusations false; investigation
continues
By Brooke Olson
Two Judicial Board members charged by the undergraduate student
council with elections violations decisively denied the accusations
Wednesday.
A student government investigating committee charged Justice
Jacob Rothman with presiding over last spring’s controversial
election despite an apparent conflict of interest.
Justice Noah Hochman was charged with election violations as
well, as the committee accused him of discussing the election case
outside of the official meeting.
Rothman approached The Bruin Wednesday, vehemently denying the
charges.
"In accordance with (undergraduate) bylaws, I removed myself
from the case which did present a conflict of interest," Rothman
said.
Hochman also denied the charge against him, saying that he did
not discuss the case outside of the proceedings until after the
case was closed.
"According to (Judicial Board) procedures, I’m allowed to
release information to the parties involved once the case is
closed," Hochman said.
Investigations committee member Cynthia Duarte, however, said
the justices’ denials were invalid because of their limited
knowledge of the investigation.
"Nothing I’ve said to this point can even be taken
conclusively," Duarte said, adding that she has not met with the
justices yet. "I will be very clear at the hearings but (the
justices) coming to the media is futile since they’ve not gone
through any sort of formal process."
Duarte is the sole remaining member of the committee after two
others bowed out due to time and interest conflicts. Despite being
the only investigator, Duarte insisted she is being as neutral as
possible.
"I’m running a fair investigation," she said, adding that she
had not decided on whether or not she would make a recommendation
about the investigation to the council.
Yet, both Hochman and Rothman claimed that a committee of one is
ridiculous.
"Normally in an investigation, a committee is formed and, in
this case, the investigation is being run by and (the decision)
will ultimately be made by one person," Rothman said. "I think
that’s unfair."
The justices also claim that the undergraduate council has
focused much of its energy and time on the investigation at the
expense of other Judicial Board business.
"There are two (Judicial Board) appointments available," Hochman
said. "I don’t see (undergraduate President) York Chang showing any
initiative to make those appointments yet. At the same time, the
council is making all sorts of ridiculous charges against us."
Chang said that the undergraduate council "hasn’t gotten around
to making the appointments," but he added the council intends to
address the appointments quickly.
Despite the apparent seriousness of the charges, Rothman was
happy that the case was going to end.
"I’m confident that the investigation will be resolved quickly,"
he said.Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu