Sprayberry H.S. Teen Charged with Felony for Knife at School
Last Edited: Thursday, 06 Sep 2007, 11:41 PM EDT
Created: Thursday, 06 Sep 2007, 10:44 PM EDT
Michael Needham, 17, says he was charged with a felony for unknowingly bringing a knife onto Sprayberry High School's campus.
Reported By: Charles Molineaux
MARIETTA, Ga. (FOX 5) – A high school athlete says Cobb County school police have put his chances of a college scholarship and his entire future on the line over an honest mistake. The student is facing felony charges after a knife was discovered in his car.
Seventeen-year-old Michael Needham said he had nothing to hide when officials at Sprayberry High School did a random search of his Jeep.
The search turned up a buck knife. Needham's father said it was a knife that Needham forgot to remove after a camping trip.
Needham was arrested on felony charges for bringing a weapon onto school property.
"Until I was in jail, I didn't really realize. Wow, I can't believe this is happening," said Needham.
"The absolute punishment is insane. I look at zero tolerance, it's crazy," said Needham's father, Don.
Both father and son said the real trouble has only just begun. Needham was a starter for Sprayberry's football team. Now that he has been charged with a felony, he has now been banned from the team, just when he could be trying to win scholarships for college.
"I'm suspended for 10 days, I understand that, but to throw away the rest of my life for having a knife that I didn't know about?" said Needham.
Sprayberry administrators said they couldn't comment on a student's disciplinary issues. A Cobb County School representative said bringing the knife to the school was simply against the law and the law doesn't give the school any discretion.
A school system spokesperson said that if the circumstances were innocent, a judge should understand and reduce the charges but Needham and his father said that every day they wait, it endangers his chances.
"As seniors, we have meeting about schools and scholarships and things for the future, and I don't know what lies in my future because of this," said Needham.
Needham was arrested two weeks ago and he has been sidelined ever since.
Needham's father said the case was assigned to a district attorney and a judge Thursday and they hope to get the charges straightened out before the nine weeks of the high school football season run out.