Appeals court rules no negligence by college after student kills man

OLIVET, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan appeals court has rejected an effort to make a small college responsible for the acts of a student who killed a man while studying in Italy.

Johnathan Hindenach was a student at Olivet College in 2008 when he took a class that included a trip to Florence, Italy. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital after an Italian court said he wasn't criminally responsible for the man's death.

Hindenach's family sued Olivet, saying the school had failed to properly monitor his mental health before the homicide. But the appeals court says Olivet was aware that Hindenach suffered from depression and used medication.

The court says it "plainly was not foreseeable" that he would kill a stranger and be hospitalized for his actions.

Published: Fri, Mar 22, 2019