The charge against a former Notre Dame student accused of felony rape of a fellow student was dismissed Wednesday after new evidence was introduced in the case.
One rape charge against Patrick Augustyn, 20, was dismissed because "it has become clear that the defendant had a reasonable belief that the complainant in this matter consented to the sexual activity which occurred," according to court documents.
The female accusor said it was "accurate" that Augustyn could have inferred that the sexual intercourse was consensual.
Augustyn's no-contact order with the female student was also terminated.
The charges stemmed from an encounter between Augustyn and the female student in the early hours of Feb. 23, 2009. Both individuals attended an off-campus party before returning to campus around midnight, court documents said.
According to court documents, witnesses said the female student had been drinking alcohol and vomited both at the off-campus party and in the cab on the way back to campus.
Witnesses later saw the female student in Knott Hall. She was asleep and alone in Augustyn's bed at 1 a.m. and witnesses attempted to wake her for two hours. At 3 a.m., the male witness asked the female witness to leave because it was past parietals, court documents said.
At 4 a.m., Knott Hall assistant rector Charles Gough called Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP) to report that "a female wearing only a T-shirt had come into his living room and lied down on the floor," court documents said.
The responding officer said the girl was in a "confused state."
"She had no recollection of where she was, how she had gotten there or how she ended up wearing the T-shirt," according to court documents.
The female student was administered a portable breathalyzer and registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.13. At the time, she did not indicate she had engaged in sexual intercourse with Augustyn.
The T-shirt had the name "Patrick" written on it, which led officers to question Augustyn in his room, where they also found the female student's clothing.
Augustyn said he and the female student "hooked up" and had sex, according to the court documents.
When NDSP officers informed the girl of Augustyn's statement, she "immediately began to cry and said ‘I never would have done that with him,'" court documents said.
The female student said Augustyn was an "acquaintance" and "not a romantic interest," according to the documents.
On Aug. 19, 2009, the case was officially filed with St. Joseph County District Courts.
Augustyn was arrested on campus Aug. 26, 2009, and The Observer reported he was no longer enrolled at the University on Aug. 31, 2009.
