CHARGE DROPPED AGAINST FOURTH CALDWELL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ACCUSED IN BUS INCIDENT

  

The charge against a Caldwell High School student who was indicted along with three other students for an incident on a school bus in September has been dropped.

A filing in Milam County that was signed by Judge John Youngblood and Milam County District Attorney Bill Torrey says the felony charge of Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity – Unlawful Restraint against 17-year-old Sophie Goodman has been dismissed.  The filing claimed there was insufficient evidence to obtain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Milam County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case.

Goodman was arrested in October by Milam County law enforcement, along with 18-year-old Katherine Hart and 17-year-olds Marina Brinkman and Kadie Hartman, after warrants accused them of holding a 14-year-old student down on the bus and taking off her clothes as they returned to Caldwell after a volleyball match.

The incident occurred near Cameron, so the case was heard in Milam County instead of Burleson County.  The four were indicted by a Milam County grand jury in November.

Hart, Brinkman and Hartman accepted a plea deal in January for lesser charges of misdemeanor Unlawful Restraint.  They were each sentenced to 12 months deferred adjudication and fined $4,000.