Attorney blames hazing for Creighton student's attack
OMAHA — Hazing rituals at a fraternity share the blame for one student's attack on another, a defense attorney said this week.
Christopher Wheeler, 20, is charged with second-degree assault and weapon use on a female Creighton University student in February 2017.
Steve Lefler, Wheeler's attorney, acknowledged that Wheeler slashed the woman's neck with a knife. Lefler is seeking to include testimony regarding Phi Kappa Psi fraternity's hazing practices to illustrate how hazing influenced his client's actions.
Wheeler spent the hours before the assault drinking heavily with the fraternity as part of the group's hazing rituals, Lefler said. Wheeler walked into the woman's room at his residence hall and called her by the wrong name. The woman said he had the wrong person. Wheeler then turned and swung at her with a pocketknife.
Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/attorney-blames-hazing-for-creighton-student-s-attack/article_15255f75-d0e0-5fc2-9a70-818211de2118.html