Lawyer calls UMass attack probe racist

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (AP) - A former University of Massachusetts student charged with stabbing two people in a campus dormitory alleges widespread racial bias in a 52-page motion to have charges dismissed.

Lawyer David Hoose claims in the motion filed Monday in Hampshire Superior Court that 24-year-old Jason Vassell, who is black, acted in self defense against two white men during the February confrontation in the dorm lobby on the Amherst campus.

Hoose says in the motion that investigators treated Vassell differently from the white men from the start and says his client's constitutional rights to a fair trial and equal protection were violated.

First Deputy Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris said there was no racism in the investigation or prosecution.