This morning the five students arrested in December’s drug bust appeared in court for a second time. Today the prosecution (New York City) filed superseding indictments (additional or updated charges) against the defendants (the students). This is pretty standard procedure and reflects no new developments—it just means they have processed further evidence from the initial raid, when the NYPD broke into their dorm rooms last semester, explained Katherine Christian of the NYPD’s Special Narcotics Office.

We posted a few weeks ago that both Coles and Wymbs are seeking “diversion to treatment”, a request to complete a rehabilitation program for drug abuse, rather than jail time. Yesterday, the only lawyer Bwog reached for comment was Marc Agnifilo, who is representing Coles. He said of today’s hearing that he was “looking forward to judge getting the information supporting diversion request,” and thinks Coles presents a “very compelling case for diversion,” and is confident that that’s the right result. Spec reports that Michael Bachner, Wymbs’ lawyer, believes he is the “perfect candidate” for a treatment program, and that if he is not diverted, it’s the fault of the media’s pressure to punish the students: it would have “everything to do with who he is” and “nothing to do with the facts of the case.” A Columbia alum and current writer for Slate wrote this very informative article about recent changes in state drug laws and how they might affect the Operation Ivy League sentencing.

Bwog braved our midterm stress and made it down to the courtroom. Here’s what happened: The students and their lawyers showed up with plenty of time to spare at 9:30 and the hearing started at 10:00. All the students appeared in person, and the prosecution read the new indictments, which reflected confirmation of the drug possession attributed to each student. All five plead not-guilty to the new indictments. All the students conversed privately with their lawyers afterward.

There were no private conversations with the judge as there were last time. The defense submitted some new documents, but no mention was made of further action to be taken on their part; the anticipated motions seeking diversionary programs were not filed. The entire proceedings lasted only about five minutes. The next court date is set for April 5th. We’ll continue to update you with news on the case in the coming weeks.