Professor Is Charged in Alleged Hoax (faking a hate crime) | LA Times

[Ediacara]

Professor Is Charged in Alleged Hoax
Claremont McKenna instructor is accused of staging hate crime. She maintains innocence.

By Stuart Silverstein and Anna Gorman, Times Staff Writers

A visiting psychology professor at Claremont McKenna College was formally charged by prosecutors Monday in connection with an alleged hate-crime hoax that had triggered antiracism protests and a one-day shutdown of the Claremont Colleges in March.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged Kerri Dunn, 39, with one misdemeanor count of filing a false police report and two felony counts of insurance fraud.

Prosecutors alleged Dunn had falsely reported that an unknown vandal spray-painted her car with racist and anti-Semitic slurs on March 9, while she attended a campus forum on racism. Officials also said Dunn submitted a false insurance claim, never paid, for items supposedly taken from her 1990 Honda Civic and for damage to the car, which had its windows smashed and tires slashed.

More at the Los Angeles Times

[klook]

1. Withholding judgment

until more facts are in. "The Claremont Police Department had said that two witnesses told officers that they had seen Dunn vandalizing her vehicle," says the article. Who are these two witnesses, I wonder? Are they credible? Either way, she'll need witnesses affirming that she was in the forum while the vandalism took place.

If Dunn was actually vandalizing her own vehicle, especially where two eyewitnesses could see her doing it, wouldn't she have to be not only dishonest but a complete moron? Is there any evidence that Prof. Dunn is that much of a dope? She has multiple degrees, including a law degree and a Ph.D in psychology.

"Authorities said Dunn originally had claimed that $1,700 in property, including a CD player and a briefcase, was stolen from her car in the Claremont incident, but she later told investigators the items had turned up." Now, what's up with that? This could indicate the possibility of a hoax on her part, but not necessarily.

Her prior conviction for shoplifting isn't helpful to her case, but it doesn't exactly qualify her as a hate-crime hoaxer, either.

[demdave]

2. Criminals don't have to be morons to not see witnesses.

People witness crimes all the time without being seen by the criminals, much the same way that criminals commit crimes without being seen.

Also, many people with multiple degrees don't have the street knowledge to pull off crimes. How many professors know the proper tool for breaking a car window without getting cut, or the proper tool for stealing hubcaps?

I always find it interesting the number of people who use "I/they wouldn't be that stupid" as proof of innocence. People who commit crimes OFTEN are just that stupid.

[walmartsucks]

4. Since when does it matter?

" Is there any evidence that Prof. Dunn is that much of a dope? She has multiple degrees, including a law degree and a Ph.D in psychology."

George W. Bush - MBA, Harvard
Condoleeza Rice - Ph.D International Studies, specializing in Russia, former provost of Stanford
Donald Rumsfeld - Princeton
Dick Cheney - Ivy League but can't remember which one

Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you aren't an idiot. Or a moran :)

[AP]

5. Her motivation might have been to give her a high profile on the issue

of racism on campus in a misguided attempt to make her vital to the communtiy and thus convert her temporary job into a tenure-track job.

Sort of like Munchausen syndrome.

[Undemcided]

3. This happen a lot more than people realise

n/t