Transcript-gate: UVA law student waives, gets trial date
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Accused burglar and former UVA law student Josh Gomes leaves Charlottesville General District Court.photo by lisa provence
Joshua Peter Gomes, the former UVA law student and former fashion model charged with breaking into the university registrar's office, waived a preliminary hearing April 12, and will go to trial on two felony burglary charges and a felony possession of burglary tools charge.
Gomes, 25, was arrested in the wee hours of December 7 outside Carruthers Hall on Emmet Street, after registrar employees had noticed signs of a break-in on December 6, including what allegedly turned out to be a spy cam disguised as a coat hook.
A University Police officer examining the contents of the tiny camera discovered the image of a young, African-American male timestamped at 3am December 5. According to earlier courtroom testimony, the video shows the mysterious alleged intruder facing the camera before he turns and begins rifling through file cabinets. Police say that man was Gomes, now persona non grata at UVA, which banned him from setting foot on university property. According to police, transcript paper was found at his residence,
After the hearing, former model Gomes, sporting a dark suit and yellow-patterned tie, did not respond to a reporter's questions. He was accompanied by his fiancée, mother of their two-year-old child, who secured Gomes' $10,000 bond. A well-dressed older gentleman accompanied the couple.
Gomes is represented by Bonnie Lepold, who handled the case of another UVA law student who ran afoul of the law last year. Gomes' trial is scheduled for August 3.
5 comments
Oh yes, this was the guy that was graduated from UVA law school, after this "crime" was committed and brought to the public's attention. So much for integrity. But what does one expect from a budding lawyer.
He did not graduate. He was removed from UVA during his second year. Get your facts right.
Read the news Einstein, he WAS allowed to graduate and any decision to allow him to practice law was left up to the state bar. Get your reading glasses fixed.
Perspective, try again: you're thinking of Johnathan Perkins, the law school student who made the false charge of racial profiling. That one was allowed to graduate and no honor charges were brought. Which is a travesty, of course, but you aren't helping your case by acting like such a swaggering fool and correcting other people when you are the one who is wrong.
CC -- actually, honor charges were brought against Perkins (the other law student). The law school withheld his degree while the charges were pending and he was not allowed to participate in graduation. The honor jury made up of students apparently acquitted him and he then received his degree. He may still have trouble with whatever state bar he sits for.
perspective -- it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.