FAMU band members detail hazing ritual that resulted in...

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida A&M drum major who died after being hazed on a bus asked to go through the ordeal because it was seen as an honor, a defendant in the case said in a deposition released on Wednesday.

Robert Champion, 26, had asked all season to go through the hazing ritual, known as "crossing over," defendant Jonathan Boyce said.

"It's a respect thing, you know," Boyce told detectives. "Well, he was wanting to do it all ... all season."

READ: Robert Champion autopsy report

Champion died in November after enduring a hazing ritual conducted by other band members on a bus outside a hotel in Orlando where FAMU had played its arch rival in football. His death revealed a culture of hazing in the famed band, which has performed at Super Bowls and presidential inauguration parades.

An autopsy concluded Champion suffered blunt trauma blows to his body and died from shock caused by severe bleeding.

Champion's parents have said their son was a vocal opponent of the routine hazing in the band.

In an interview earlier this year, Champion's father, Robert Sr., said the reason his son was hazed was because of his opposition to it.

“Robert was not violent,” said Champion’s mother, Pamela. “He would never do hazing. And for someone to actually say he would, I'm saying no.”

“Whether Robert went on that bus voluntarily, whether he was coerced or whether he was forced on the bus, we don't know,” said the Champions' attorney, Christopher Chestnut. “Unfortunately, because of their actions, he's not here to answer.”

Prosecutors in Orlando are releasing more than 1,500 pages of evidence against the 13 people charged in Champion's death last year. Eleven defendants are charged with a third-degree felony and two are charged with misdemeanors.

One hazing ritual called "the hot seat" involved getting kicked and beaten with drumsticks and bass drum mallets while covered with a blanket on a band bus called, "Bus C," band member Marc Baron told investigators. Baron isn't charged and wasn't on the bus the weekend Champion died.

Band members enduring the hazing also must run a gauntlet to the back of the bus while being hit and kicked in a ritual called "crossing over," he said.

"You start in the beginning and you go, you try to find your way to the back," Baron said.

“They put the blanket on my head, and I was, like, in crash position,” said Requesta Harden, who went through the ritual. “And then they started beating me, and I couldn't breathe, so I got up and I ran to the front and then after that, we got off the bus.”

WFTV learned that three FAMU band members were hazed the night Champion was killed on a charter bus.

Lisette Sanchez and Keon Hollis got on the bus first.

Hollis said he went, too, went through the same hazing ritual as Champion. The two were roommates last November, and he described to investigators what happened when they got on the bus to participate in the ritual. (Read Hollis' police interview)

"Basically you get on the bus, and take your shirt off and you have to make it from the front to the back of the bus. Yes, get through as quick as you can," said Hollis.

Fellow band members told investigators Champion craved acceptance and the respect that the rituals conveyed more than he worried about their implications.

When asked by investigators if it was how a member earns respect, Baron said: "In a certain way respect, but it's not really respect. It's just like band credentials."

“I knew he wanted to do it,” Boyce said. “On the way back to the hotel, I received a text from some people on the bus and they were saying, ‘Is he going to do it? This is his only chance.'”

Hollis said Champion seemed fine immediately afterward, but said he was thirsty. Hollis said he gave Champion some water.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer thinks Champion's alleged willingness to take part in the hazing may impact the sentences for those who have been charged more than it will impact findings of guilt or innocence.

“Consent to participate in the hazing process is not a legal defense,” said Sheaffer. “It may go more toward mitigation of sentence in this case.”

Depositions offered clues to the defenses the defendants will use.

Defendant Aaron Golson denied getting on the bus where the hazing took place. He said he got a ride back from the game with a friend.

"I don't know anything that happened with Robert," Golson said.

Golson also told detectives that Champion wasn't into the hazing rituals.

"Man, I'm shock(ed) if that happens," Golson said when told that Champion chose to get on the bus to be hazed.

Another defendant, Caleb Jackson, at first told detectives that he wasn't on the bus when Champion was beaten but then changed his story when he was told that hotel video surveillance showed him getting off the bus. At the time of Champion's death, Jackson was on probation for a felony battery charge.

"I love Robert like a brother, more than y'all, any, everybody in this band loves this man like a brother, you know what I'm saying?" Jackson said.

FAMU's famed Marching 100 band was suspended shortly after the incident, and officials have said it will remain sidelined at least through the 2012-2013 school year.

The school also tried to fire band director Julian White. White's dismissal was placed on hold while the criminal investigation unfolded, but he insisted that he did nothing wrong and fought for months to get reinstated. He announced his retirement earlier this month.