Sean Busby '01 could face up to seven years in prison and a $4,000 fine for allegedly assaulting a nurse at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and two students in his South Fayerweather residence hall last Spring term.
Busby will stand trial in the first week of February. He is not currently enrolled at the College, Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson said.
Busby will be charged with Second Degree Assault, which is a class B felony, for recklessly caused bodily injury without regard for human life when he allegedly choked a male student, Grafton County Attorney Ken Anderson said.
He will also be charged with possession of a controlled drug -- more than one gram of psilocybin mushrooms. This charge also counts as a class B felony.
According to Anderson, the maximum penalty for class B felonies is three and a half to seven years in a New Hampshire state prison coupled with a $4,000 fine.
In addition, Busby will face two counts of simple assault, a Class A misdemeanor.
The maximum punishment for a class A misdemeanor is one year in a house of correction and a $2,000 fine.
The incident leading to these charges occurred the morning of April 30 when Busby allegedly entered the room of another student and urged the student to try some hallucinogenic mushrooms that he had in a plastic bag.
"I told him he was crazy and told him to leave," the student wrote in a statement that he submitted to the Hanover Police after the attack. "I have never known him to be violent at all. He was laughing a little and so I had no reason to think he was going to hurt me."
"He insisted and said he was going to 'forcefeed' the mushrooms to me if I didn't take them," the student wrote. "I asked him if he had eaten some and he said yes. I dismissed his actions as caused by his tripping."
However, according to the student, this exchange quickly escalated into a dangerous situation when he continued to refuse the mushrooms.
He said Busby placed him in a headlock, only letting go when the student was near the point of unconsciousness.
Following the incident, the student told The Dartmouth that all of the capillaries in his face and eyes burst as a result of his being choked so forcefully. He also said he suffered mild trauma to his neck and throat area.
Busby's rampage did not stop after the headlock. The same morning he also allegedly punched another student in the jaw without being provoked before students called the police.
Captain Christopher O'Connor of the Hanover Police Department told The Dartmouth last May that Busby had also attacked a nurse treating him at DHMC following the Residence hall incident.
Following the alleged attacks, a student with knowledge of Busby's whereabouts said he returned home to Louisiana, where he planned to remain on medical leave from the College.
