Disruption Over Man’s Seizure to Be Weighed in Grading Bar Exams

A State Bar committee will take into account the disruption caused by a man’s seizure when grading the tests of students who were taking the exam during the collapse, an official said Saturday.

The test proctor denied extra time to two good Samaritans who rushed to the stricken man’s aid until ambulances arrived.

Bar spokesman Jerome Braun said the test supervisor acted properly because supervisors cannot arbitrarily decide which test-takers receive extra time.

But the disruption will be considered when the exams from the Pasadena Convention Center testing site are graded, Braun said.

“It is next to impossible to determine in such an instance how much impact this disruption had on individual applicants,” Braun said. “In fairness to all who were in the Pasadena Center, we intend to take the disruption into account when evaluating the exam.”

John Leslie of North Hollywood and Eunice Morgan of Culver City rushed to the aide of law student Randall Carpenter, who is epileptic and suffered a seizure Tuesday while taking the three-day exam.

While test officials called paramedics, Leslie, a former lifeguard, and Morgan, a registered nurse, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid to Carpenter, who had stopped breathing.

After helping the victim, Leslie said he reopened his test book but could not concentrate. He said he almost certainly failed Tuesday’s portion of the exam.