Student Accused of Selling Drugs Appeals Expulsion

An El Segundo Middle School student who was expelled for a semester for reportedly selling a bag of marijuana for $2 is taking his case to the Los Angeles County Board of Education to see if he can get back into school.

Patrick Anderson, 12, was expelled for the fall semester after an eight-hour hearing on June 18 when a five-member panel heard testimony from students and administrators who said that Anderson bought a small amount of marijuana and resold it for $2.

He is appealing to the county Sept. 3 in hopes of having the decision overturned so he can remain at El Segundo Middle School this fall.

Patrick claims he never intended to buy or sell marijuana. He said someone gave him a bag of marijuana when he was on the playground. When he threw the small portion of marijuana in a trash can, another student picked it up and gave him $2, he said.

The board decided that Anderson did sell marijuana, and because of the no-drugs policy at school, he would have to find another middle school to attend.

But James Kosnett, the attorney who represented Anderson at the hearing, says the student did not get a fair hearing.

“The deck was stacked against Patrick,” Kosnett said, noting that the head of the five-member panel was El Segundo Unified School District administrator William Watkins, instead of a nonpartisan, non-district person. There were two school administrators from other districts on the panel.

Kosnett also said that El Segundo Middle School Principal Megan Cassette and Assistant Principal Chris Jones refused Anderson’s request to speak with his parents before he was questioned and signed a confession.

“They yelled at him and they threatened him with the cops and extracted a false confession they forced him to sign,” the attorney said.

El Segundo Unified School Supt. William Manahan denied those claims.

“The evidence in my opinion was overwhelming that he did sell marijuana, and granted it was not very much, he did sell it,” Manahan said, noting that this is the first time a student has been expelled from that school for selling drugs.