After almost two weeks of grim and heartbreaking testimony in the case of an Allegheny College student who committed suicide in 2002, a Crawford County jury came back with its verdict after 3¹/₂ hours of deliberation, ruling that the college was not negligent in the death of Charles Mahoney IV.

Mr. Mahoney, a football player from Burgettstown with a 3.67 grade point average his final semester, hanged himself in his fraternity house in February of his junior year.

		Previous coverage Suit says Allegheny College remiss in student's suicide (08/20/06)

His parents, Deborah and Charles, who is superintendent of the Chartiers-Houston School District, sued Allegheny College and two of its mental health counselors, blaming them for their son's death. Their attorney, Denny Phillips, argued that the counselors failed to intervene even after seeing clear signs that Mr. Mahoney was a threat to himself.

Eleven of 12 jurors agreed Thursday that the school and the counselors were not liable or negligent.

The case aroused interest in academic circles, with college administrators worrying about their liability in similar cases.

Mr. Phillips said he and his clients were obviously disappointed in the verdict, but acknowledged that "it was a very tough case." Despite the jury's finding, he has heard from various lawyers and college administrators that the case may still affect school policies regarding mentally vulnerable students.

"It is my understanding from sources that many colleges are rewriting their policies about contacting parents of suicidal students," said Mr. Phillips. "Even though we lost the verdict, if that is the effect of this case, it's worth it."

Mr. Phillips said the Mahoney family has "been through the wringer" and did not wish to comment on the trial's outcome.

According to evidence presented during the trial, Charles Mahoney IV experienced his first major bout of depression at football camp at the beginning of his freshman year. Despite ongoing psychiatric treatment and medication, his mental health deteriorated for the next 2¹/₂ years.

"I feel terrible for this family; in all my life I've never worked on a sadder case," said Kerry Kearney, attorney for Allegheny College. "There were tears on both sides."

According to testimony at the trial, Ms. Kearney said, there are approximately 1,000 suicides each year on U.S. college campuses; more than half of those students never sought counseling services.

Dr. Morton Silverman, medical adviser to the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing campus suicides, testified for the defense, Ms. Kearney said. According to Dr. Silverman, Allegheny College had always shown concern about counseling issues, with 1 counselor for every 600 students, far exceeding the 1 in 1,500 ratio recommended by the Jed Foundation.

"The verdict clearly showed the college wasn't responsible for the death of this young man. In fact the jury found the decedent was 100 percent responsible for his own death," said Ms. Kearney. "It was really sad, but it was certainly consistent with the evidence."

Allegheny College would not comment on the ruling, other than to release the following prepared statement:

"The suicide of Charles Mahoney IV was a tragedy for all involved, especially for his family. We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to them. We believe the jury reached the correct verdict by finding that Allegheny College, its counselor, and its consulting psychiatrist were not at fault. It has been the college's consistent position that Allegheny's counselor and consulting psychiatrist exercised the greatest care in the treatment of Mr. Mahoney.".....

Suicides remain difficult to predict, Ms. Kearney said.

"There's no question that this young man was challenged," she said, but, "I don't think this case at all sends the message that colleges won't accept young people who do have challenges."