Terry Turnipseed, a law and engineering professor at Syracuse University, has been placed on administrative leave after being charged with menacing, assault, and criminal obstruction of breathing in connection with an incident at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in New York. The charges stem from an alleged assault on a woman in the casino’s elevator and parking lot on February 17, 2023. According to reports, Turnipseed was caught on video grabbing the woman by the throat and hair and pulling her out of a car in the garage.
Turnipseed has been teaching at Syracuse University since July 2004. He taught courses in estate planning, estate and gift taxation, wills and trusts, and property law at the Syracuse University College of Law. He has also worked as counsel at Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers in Boston, specializing in estate planning and taxation. However, he is no longer listed as a lawyer at the firm.
According to his lawyer, Charles A. Keller III, the charges against Turnipseed are misdemeanors in the third degree, and he expects them to be dropped. Keller also stated that media accounts of the incident are exaggerations and that the facts of the case will eventually come out. Joel Barkin, the vice president for communications for the Oneida Indian Nation, described the incident as a domestic dispute in an interview with Syracuse.com.
Despite the woman allegedly involved in the incident stating that she did not want to press charges, Turnipseed was charged based on the video evidence. The incident sparked concern at Syracuse University, prompting two emails to law students regarding Turnipseed’s leave. The first email sent on February 24 stated that Turnipseed was on leave for personal reasons and would not be teaching for the rest of the semester. The second, sent on March 4, was more detailed and written by Craig M. Boise, the law school’s dean. The email emphasized that the university and the college of law condemn sexual and relationship violence and will not tolerate it on their campus or within their community. It also stated that the matter is now in the hands of law enforcement and has been referred to the university’s formal disciplinary and employment process.
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It remains to be seen what impact the charges will have on Turnipseed’s employment at Syracuse University and his position at Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers. The law professor has not publicly stated the charges against him.