Legislation concerning the 2003 death of an ETSU student made it through tough hurdles Tuesday in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly.
The Robert ‘Robbie’ Nottingham Campus Crime Scene Investigation Act of 2004, which is sponsored by Rep. Nathan Vaughn (D-Kingsport) and Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) passed in both the House Criminal Procedure Subcommittee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The legislation is designed to make it mandatory that campus police call in local police agencies to help investigate all deaths on campuses that do not occur in a hospital or other medically supervised setting and all alleged rapes on college campuses.
“All the students deserve the right to have a complete investigation,” Nottingham’s mother, Mary, said in a press release.
Although the police organizations will be jointly investigating, local police will coordinate on death investigations, while campus police will take lead on rape investigations.
Nottingham died from head trauma on March 21, 2003, after falling from the balcony at his Buccaneer Ridge apartment.
ETSU campus police investigated his death and found no evidence concluding that the fall was an act of suicide or homicide.
Nottingham’s toxicology report showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in his system. Nottingham’s parents have been firmly convinced that their son’s death was an act of foul play and for the last several months have offered a reward of $50,000 for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for their son’s death.
The family’s belief that the investigation should have been more extensive and handled by outside sources are two factors that led to this legislation being created.
Now that it has gone through these two crucial steps in the General Assembly, final passage of this legislation could take place within the next three weeks.
“This landmark legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, will help ensure that all necessary resources are brought to bear to investigate these most serious of all campus crimes,” said S. Daniel Carter, a Knoxville based expert on campus safety and vice president of the non-profit organization Security On Campus, Inc. “Once passed into law, students on Tennessee’s campuses will be better protected and safer.”
Anyone with information concerning the Nottingham case can file a report anonymously by calling 1-888-251-7959 or visiting http://www.robbienottingham.com/.

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