By MATT CHITTUM
ROANOKE TIMES

The stay will give the defense time to argue that statements were coerced and violated cadets' rights.

The honor court trials of six Virginia Military Institute cadets accused of lying have been postponed until Monday, but not because a federal judge ordered it.

VMI voluntarily put off the trials, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, at the request of U.S. District Judge James Turk.

The delay allows lawyers for the six cadets to ask the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a temporary restraining order that would delay the trials even further.

The case before VMI's honor court involves a ritual known as the "whack system," in which three seniors allegedly struck three freshmen with a belt. All six cadets are accused of lying when they initially denied that blows were struck.

Turk said he was reluctant to involve the court in the case because he felt that a federal court should not intervene in a state matter.

It's not within his jurisdiction to rule on matters of evidence in criminal proceedings in other courts, Turk said.

"I would have no problem with it if it weren't in the nature of a criminal proceeding," Turk said.

He urged the attorneys to pursue the matter with the court of appeals, which could establish that jurisdiction.

"I think you have raised grave questions of constitutional magnitude," the judge said.

If VMI did not volunteer the postponement, Turk said he would have entered the restraining order.

Attorneys for the cadets called the outcome a partial victory.

"We're not as dead as we were an hour ago," said Bowlman T. Bowles, attorney for VMI senior Phantamith Prompol of Alexandria. Bowles is a 1960 VMI graduate.

A single appeals-court judge or a panel of three could hear the case this week. The appeals court could rule on the requests for a restraining order or send the case back to Turk.

The cadets' lawyers wanted Turk to enter a temporary restraining order to allow the lawyers a chance to argue that statements made by the cadets were coerced and in violation of their rights against self-incrimination.

The arguments about coercion, if allowed, would be made before Turk at a later date.

Charges that the cadets lied grew out of an investigation that the three freshmen had been subjected to a "whack system" by their senior mentors, in which the freshmen received licks with a belt for infractions such as bad grades and spilling drinks in the seniors' room.

All six cadets initially denied the beatings in what their attorneys call "midnight inquisitions" by cadet investigators.

They claim their statements were made under extreme duress, and when they tried to correct them they were charged with lying in violation of VMI's honor code.

Turk was concerned about involving the federal court before the cadets had been tried, because VMI offers a course of appeals to the superintendent and then the board of visitors.

Bowles argued, however, that once the honor court trial occurs, the "ball game is over."

The cadets' attorneys made a joint motion to the honor court to have the statements of denial given during the "midnight inquisitions" ruled inadmissible, but the honor court president denied the motion, they said.

Because Assistant Attorney General Tabor Cronk, who represented VMI Monday, is also counsel to the superintendent and the board of visitors, Bowles argued, there essentially is no course of appeal.

Cronk denied that he agreed with the honor court president's ruling that the statements should be admitted.

Cronk said he had advised the honor court president that he acted improperly by ruling on the cadets' joint motion to suppress the statements without a hearing, and that the president had offered to hold an evidentiary hearing.

Bowles and Steven Grist, an attorney for the freshmen, said they knew nothing of the offer for an evidentiary hearing.

The freshmen and seniors made different arguments for the restraining order.

The seniors claimed their right of due process was violated in the investigation because they were on one hand advised of their Fifth Amendment rights and on the other compelled to answer questions about whether they had struck the freshmen. In other words, investigators used the seniors' honor against them, Bowles said.

The freshmen say they were caught between the loyalty they are taught to their mentors, who told the freshmen not to talk about the "whack system," and the honor system, which says "a cadet does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do."

The cadets' lawyers were encouraged by Turk's recognition of the constitutional questions involved.

"It looks like he's thinking favorably in our corner," Bowles said.