THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994              TAG: 9408110544
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                    LENGTH: Medium:   58 lines

REPORT: U.VA. MADE DEAL WITH STUDENT DESPITE POLICY, THE SCHOOL PROMISED HIM A NEW HONOR TRIAL, A NEWSPAPER SAYS.

The University of Virginia strayed from its hands-off policy in regard to the student-run Honor Committee, reaching a settlement that apparently required the committee to grant a retrial, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch, citing documents it obtained and sources close to the case, said the deal promised Christopher Leggett a new honor trial, readmitted him as a student and reimbursed him for about $40,000 in legal fees.

The university could not confirm the report because student records are confidential, spokesman Mike Marshall said Wednesday.

Hovey S. Dabney, rector of the U.Va. board of visitors, said he was not aware of any agreement. However, after calling the university, Dabney said, ``You know, they tell me that the university signs many contracts in behalf of the board of visitors.''

The Honor Committee found Leggett, 21, of Vienna, guilty of cheating on a computer science test in 1992. It acquitted him Aug. 1 in a retrial. Leggett, now a junior at Bucknell University, has said he will not return to U.Va.

The executive committee of the Honor Committee agreed to the retrial without the consent of the entire committee, said E. Jackson Boggs Jr., who resigned from the Honor Committee in protest of the retrial.

When the executive committee informed the rest of the members about the agreement in a July 24 meeting, the whole Honor Committee overturned the decision and refused to hold the retrial.

Members of the executive committee resigned temporarily in protest.

Leggett's lawyer, Dane H. Butswinkas, said in a July 26 letter to a member of the executive committee that the July 19 settlement guaranteed a retrial and was ``unquestionably binding on the university and is legally enforceable.''

Butswinkas' letter also noted that Leggett ``waived substantial damages claims against the university and the Honor Committee'' as a result of the settlement.

The Times-Dispatch was told by sources that on the day the letter was received, the Honor Committee decided to go forward with the retrial.

Honor Committee chairman James Fang said Butswinkas' letter in no way affected the committee's decision.

``Yeah, they can write threatening letters, but is that pressure?'' said Fang.

U.Va. General Counsel James J. Mingle also had written members of the Honor Committee asking them to adhere to the agreement and retry Leggett.

``The president and the board believe that the university and the Honor Committee are morally, as well as legally, obligated to carry out the agreement's terms in good faith. They hope and expect that you will fulfill the terms of the agreement,'' Mingle said in a July 26 letter. by CNB