Sex Crime Allegations Lead to Suit against Law School

Al Brophy (at least I think it is him - I get confused with their author labels) at Faculty Lounge points to a really strange story about a former Gonzaga law student. From the news account:

A former Gonzaga law student is suing the University for breach of educational contract and violation of consumer protection....

According to the complaint, John Doe invited a female law student to his apartment for dinner and a movie in December 2005. The woman brought a bottle of wine, which they both drank....
As the night progressed, the two parties engaged in sexual activity, which the woman reportedly initiated. She suddenly became nauseous, so sexual activity stopped, and the woman slept on John Doe's couch that night. 

The lawsuit states that the next morning she could not recall what had happened the previous night. She went to an emergency room and according to the complaint told medical personnel she thought she had been drugged. A drug test came back negative, and the woman declined a rape kit. 

Later, the woman contacted the hospital asking to be tested for gamma-hydroxybutric acid (GHB), a common date rape drug. However, once tested, her levels came back within range of levels of GHB naturally occurring in the body.

The woman filed a complaint with the Spokane Police Department and Gonzaga University, but John Doe was cleared after submitting to and passing a polygraph examination. and Gonzaga University, but John Doe was cleared after submitting to and passing a polygraph examination.

The Dean of Student Services at Gonzaga then decided to hold a Discipline Board hearing in response to the woman's allegations. At this hearing, according to the complaint, Cepeda told the panel the woman's GHB levels were indicative of date rape drugs.

The lawsuit also claims Cepeda also allegedly implied that John Doe's initial hesitation to submit to a polygraph test was indicative of his guilt. Cepeda was unavailable for comment.
The Disciplinary Board reportedly determined that John Doe had drugged and raped the woman and decided he should be expelled from the law school as a result.

However, John Doe immediately appealed the decision to the Vice President for Student Life, who decided to reconvene the Disciplinary Board for a second hearing. At John Doe's request, the woman's claims of GHB were re-examined by the same panel, which subsequently threw them out of the case, Casey said. At this hearing, John Doe was cleared of the determination that he had drugged the woman, yet he was found guilty of sexual assault, according to the complaint.

The panel determined, "A reasonable person would have known that [she] was not competent to give consent to sexual activity because of the large amount of alcohol she consumed in a relatively short amount of time."

However, both the woman and John Doe affirm that "the amount of alcohol she had consumed was not unusual for her," according to the lawsuit.

I apologize for the long block quote, but the facts are so odd that I didn't think I could edit them further. If the allegations of the civil suit are correct, it looks like Cepeda could be in a bit of trouble. However, even if he mistated the lab results, the fact that the alleged victim was so intoxicated as to be unable to consent is going to be a tough fact for the civil plaintiff to overcome. The "she usually drinks that much" line might be a tough sell without some documented admissions by the alleged victim. Either way, this is surely an unwanted mess for the law school.