Protesters want student expelled

Published: Monday, August 31, 1998

Monday, August 31, 1998

CRIME: Activists at UC Berkeley demand David Cash's dismissal for not stopping assault on child

By Andy Shah

Daily Bruin Contributor

BERKELEY -- A group of Los Angeles activists travelled to UC Berkeley on Aug. 26 to demand the expulsion of second-year student David Cash, close friend of alleged murderer Jeremy Strohmeyer.

Cash, a 19-year-old from La Palma, Ca., is said to have witnessed Strohmeyer restraining Sherrice Iverson, 7, in a bathroom stall of a Nevada casino in May 1997.

According to grand jury transcripts, Cash went into the bathroom after he saw Strohmeyer and Iverson enter. Inside, he saw Strohmeyer muffling the screams of Iverson, he said.

Cash tried to tell his friend to let go, he said, but left the bathroom after Strohmeyer did not relent. Iverson was later found molested and murdered. Strohmeyer is currently standing trial for strangulation and sexual assault.

Cash did not report the incident to police, nor did he tell his father, who took Cash and Strohmeyer to Nevada. This reticence, in addition to comments made to the Los Angeles-based KLSX 97.1 talk radio and the Los Angeles Times, have sparked heated reactions nationwide.

In an interview with KLSX hosts Tim Conway, Jr. and Doug Steckler on July 20, Cash claimed that he did not do anything wrong by not stopping Strohmeyer from hurting Iverson.

"I have a lot of remorse toward the Iverson family. It was a very tragic event," he told the radio hosts. "The simple fact remains I don't know this little girl ... I don't know people in Panama or Africa who are killed every day, so I can't feel remorse for them. The only person I know is Jeremy Strohmeyer."

The radio hosts were outraged by his comments.

"David Cash, Jr. has demonstrated a sociopathic lack of remorse," Steckler said.

The radio station spearheaded the bus trip to Berkeley and also garnered support from community leaders.

Their primary objective was to get Cash expelled from UC Berkeley.

This is unlikely to happen, however, because the incident occurred before Cash was a student at UC Berkeley.

"We do not ask students to leave on the basis of outrageous things that they may say or outrageous things that they may have been witness to," said UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl.

Also, Cash did not break any Nevada or California laws.

"There is no law that makes it mandatory to report a crime. In my understanding, what he did does not fit into the definition of aiding and abetting," said a Las Vegas police officer, according to grand jury transcripts.

At the protest in Sproul Plaza, many Berkeley students joined the Los Angeles activists in condemning Cash.

Waving signs and yelling phrases such as "No justice, no peace," the protesters made their way to Sproul Plaza and used a blowhorn to gain the campus' attention.

"This baby must've looked up to (Cash) and said 'This man will save me,'" Steckler said. "David Cash abandoned (Iverson). This is a crime against humanity."

"You are an accomplice to my child's murder," said Yolanda Manuel, Sherrice's mother.

"He watched a 7-year-old lose her life and didn't do anything."

Mark Klaas, the father of kidnapping and murder victim Polly Klaas, showed up to lend his support.

"The fact that he is here and not in jail is the abdication of social responsibility," he said.

Candice Blagmon, a first-year student, lives in the same dorm building as Cash.

"You have no moral integrity," she said to Cash. "I'm scared of you. Go home."

Others say that since Cash did not break the law, he should not be expelled.

"It's somewhat overblown. He didn't actually murder her," said Danielle Jones, a first-year psychology student. "But he should apologize at least."

Cash contends that he has committed no crime.

In a statement to UC Berkeley's student newspaper, The Daily Californian, Cash said the following:

"Most people seem to be under the impression that I was in a position to stop the heinous crime. However, as my grand jury testimony clearly states, I was completely ignorant to the events surrounding the death of Sherrice Iverson.

"I did not witness the alleged molestation and murder with which Jeremy Strohmeyer has been charged. And as for the L.A. Times article alleging that the notoriety made it easy for me 'to score with women,' that is false.

"I do not wish to profit in any way from this tragedy. As I have stated many times in the past, I have much sympathy for the Iverson family and hope that justice is served."

Many of the activists are pushing to change what they see as a moral issue into a legal one.

"We're trying to set a type of legal precedent to expel him for this," said Jason Insalaco, a producer for the Conway and Steckler show.

The radio station and community leaders are trying to amass 100,000 signatures on a petition to have Nevada and California laws changed, and to have David Cash tried in a court of law.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in Las Vegas in the strangulation and sexual assault case against Strohmeyer.

Andy Shah

Protesters demonstrated on the UC Berkeley campus last week for David Cash to be expelled from the university. Cash allegedly witnessed the rape and murder of a young girl in Las Vegas.