- POMONA, Calif. (AP) -- A
Claremont McKenna College psychology professor was convicted Wednesday
of falsely reporting her car was vandalized and spray-painted with racist
and anti-Semitic slurs while she was speaking at a campus forum on racial
tolerance.
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- Kerri Dunn, 39, of Redlands was convicted of one misdemeanor
count of filing a false police report and two felony counts of attempted
insurance fraud. She faces up to 31/2 years in prison when she is sentenced
Sept. 17.
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- Her attorney, Gary S. Lincenberg, issued a statement
saying Dunn would appeal the attempted insurance fraud convictions.
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- The professor claimed her car was spray-painted and its
tires slashed March 9. The report prompted college officials to cancel
classes at Claremont's five undergraduate campuses the next day as thousands
of students took part in demonstrations calling for tolerance.
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- Dunn called her insurance company that day to report
the vandalism.
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- She became a suspect after two witnesses reported seeing
her vandalizing her car. Investigators also said she gave them conflicting
reports about what happened.
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- Dunn's attorney said the visiting professor never submitted
a claim to her insurance company, adding the judge barred that evidence
from being presented to the jury.
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- As for the false police report conviction, a Claremont
College electrician identified a man who should have been the primary suspect,
Lincenberg said.
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- Dunn, who remains on leave from Claremont McKenna College,
maintains her innocence, he said.
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