Western Front - 1988 April 8

              The Western Front VOL. 80, NO. i»- \<\ WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA FRIDAY, APRIL 8,1988
Rape accusations against prof dropped
By Don Grandstrom
staff reporter
At a press conference Thurs­day
afternoon, Whatcom County
Prosecuting Attorney David
McEachran announced Western
music professor Barton Frank will
not be charged for allegations of
first-degree rape and second-degree
assault.
At the Whatcom County
Courthouse, accompanied by Bel-lingham
Police Chief Don Pierce,
McEachran explained how he, his
staff and police investigators ar­rived
at the decision.
He said no arrest can be made
without probable cause that a
crime has been committed and
any charges must be filed by the
prosecuting attorney's office. In
order to file charges, investigation
must show that a crime was com-mited,
the suspect is chargeable
and any evidence gathered will
make a case in court.
McEachran also said a vic­tim/
complainant's statements
must remain consistent.
In this instance, the initial
report came from the Ferndale
Police Department. The incident
allegedly occured in Bellingham.
McEachran said the alleged vic­tim's
two initial statements to the
police were inconsistent.
Statements made by the com­plainant
to Bellingham Police
Detective Carlotta Jarratt pro­duced
more inconsistencies.
Investigation of the alleged
crime scene produced no physical
evidence linking the complainant
with the suspect, McEachran said.
Paramedics who treated the
alleged victim found no cuts or
blood on her clothing. They also
said the wounds found on the
woman's abdomen just below the
breasts were "strange" in ap­pearance.
Gynocological examina­tions
found no evidence of rape,
McEachran said.
Andy Peach, defense attorney for music professor Barton Frank,
courthouse Thursday after hearing that no charges would be filed
At this point, McEachran said
he began questioning the
credibility of the complainant.
He said he found she had
made a complaint of rape to the
Whatcom County Sheriffs Office
Jan. 22.
"This was a bizarre case and
again contained inconsistencies.
Alcohol was involved and no
charges were brought forward.
Credibility did not exist,"
McEachran said.
"We knew this when this case
came in," he said. "The com­plainant's
mother gave us more
background. She said her
daughter had been practicing self-mutilation
since she was 12-13
years-of-age to get attention."
He added the alleged victim
earlier had filed false allegations
of rape by two men in Tennessee.
"We then came to the in­escapable
conclusion we could not
file charges," McEachran said.
McEachran said he was hot
certain if the alleged victim would
be charged with the false com­plaint,
considering her history.
"We won't be able to do any­thing
until we find out exactly
what happened," he said.
After the news conference,
Andy Peach, Frank's attorney,
said the release without charges
was a relief he anticipated.
"There still will be a problem
for my client. He's been subjected
to public scrutiny with people
thinking he's a criminal. I must
say the prosecutor showed great
Don Granstrom
in the Whatcom County
against his client.
courage in not buckling to public
pressure.
"Now it turns out that my
client is the victim," Peach said.
"The immediate effect on (Frank)
has been one of isolation. He has
had many calls of support. Several
of his former students have called
me saying there's no way he could
have allegedly done such a thing.
"His reputation is tarnished.
People will ask how he got in­volved
in such a situation. He
didn't have control. Somebody
else did," Peach said. "My client
did not know this person until she
called him."
Following the news confer­ence,
Frank agreed to be inter­viewed
at his home.
"It was an absolute night­mare,"
Frank said. "I hate rape.
It's disgusting. I couldn't believe
the allegations," he said.
"I got a call from the girl. It
was on my answering machine.
She said she would like to meet
me," Frank said.
Later, the police arrived at
Frank's home and arrested him
on suspicion of rape.
"I'm a light sleeper and when
there was a knock on the door at
5 a.m., I answered it. 'What are
the police doing here?'" he
recalled.
Frank said the arresting of­ficers
were incredibly polite and
civil.
The music professor was
puzzled why the local media used
his name while outside media did
not.
"I think it's a terrible mistake
to use names when a person isn't
charged," he said.
Frank said he harbored ab­solutely
no malice against the
woman.
"I think she is ill and needs
help," he said.
By Don Grandstrom
New admissions cut off
By Timothy K. King
staff reporter
An early cutoff date for fall
quarter applicants could force
some high school and transfer stu­dents
to change their plans to at­tend
Western.
Richard Riehl, admissions
director, said Western stopped ac­cepting
freshman applications for
fall quarter by mid-February and
transfer applications yesterday.
The official cutoff date is Septem­ber
1.
"We're at our limit in terms of
offers we'll send out," Riehl said.
The enrollment cutoff was
prompted by a huge increase in
freshman applications. Riehl said
the number of applicants in Feb­ruary
was up by 55 percent from
the same period last year and he
expects the number of freshman
probably will top 1,500, which is
higher than the school's target
number of 1,450.
Riehl said the increase proba­bly
could be explained by the ex­posure
Western received in being
named one of the top 10 schools
in the nation by U.S. News and
World Report.
Though the magazine is a na­tional
publication, Riehl said most
of the response has been from
Washington students.
Although the applications
have not been evaluated officially,
he said, no dramatic increase oc­curred
in the typically low number
of out-of-state applicants and the
report more likely caused in-state
students to take another look at
Western.
Riehl said eligible transfer
students who had applications
into the admissions office by yes­terday
not be turned away.
Turning away students is not
something Western administrators
like to do and for that reason
Western might ask the state to in­crease
its enrollment cap.
Sam Kelly, acting vice presi­dent
for academic affairs, said
Western probably will ask the
state legislature for a modest in­crease
of 100 to 200 students in
the next biennium, 1990 to 1992.
A decade ago Western had
1,000 more students than now.
"There is sentiment on
campus to increase enrollment
gradually over the future years to
reach those enrollment levels ...
given modest support from the
state," Kelly said.
While freshman and transfer
applications are closed, returning-student
applications still are being
accepted, Riehl said. Those ap­plicants
should apply soon, he
added, because Western is filling
to capacity.
protest by a group of concerned
tions for suspicion of criminal
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Western music professor Barton
is not consistent with
normal court procedures.
ctttor David McEachran called a
p.m. Thursday at the county
courthouse and announced
Frank would not be charged
about 3 p.m. and explained how
recommendation by Whatcom
County Superior Court Judge
Supreme Court defines these
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protesters eventually cited, said
Frank's class status made a big
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day, a group of women began
occupying the reception area of
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five hours to object to the hanbV
musician instead of a cellist,
h£d still be in jail," she said
"The man is out and is poten­tially
dangerous. Why are they
protesters' list was that Frank
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