Kaitlyn Pohly, Contributing Photographer

A state judge granted a motion to dismiss three misdemeanour charges of disorderly conduct against Lauren Noble ’11, the founder and director of the Buckley Institute, for allegedly using a racial slur against New Havener Gerno Allen on three separate occasions in July 2023.

According to the transcript of Noble’s hearing on March 27, provided by the Buckley Institute, State Attorney Jacqueline Fitzgerald moved to drop Noble’s charges given the State could “not prove [the] case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“There is insufficient evidence to support […] the complaining witness’s claim,” Fitzgerald said at the hearing. “There are inconsistencies in the complaining witness’ statements [and] credibility issues. There exists video evidence clearly contradicting the complaining witness’ statements.”

Pointing to footage the state obtained of the New Haven parking lot where the alleged incidents occurred, Fitzgerald elaborated that “absolutely no interaction” took place between the two parties — Noble and Allen — on July 6, 2023 and July 13, 2023, the first two dates listed in Noble’s original arrest warrant. Allen, a Black man, had stated that Noble had called him the N-word on each of the given dates when he asked her to park and move her car.

On July 27, 2023, the third and final alleged incident date, Fitzgerald highlighted contradictory statements from Allen and another witness, Misty Doss, Allen’s managing supervisor at the parking facility, in obtained video footage from a body-worn camera at the incident. 

Doss stated that she had asked Noble for her car keys. Noble allegedly then began to “insult [Doss]” and “stomped [on] her foot,” as per the body-worn camera footage. Noble then allegedly referred to Allen by a racial slur and said, “he better not touch her car.”

Fitzgerald stated that the video footage captured Doss and Noble’s interaction, but did not feature a foot-stomping incident, nor Allen. Allen had also named another witness, William Henton, who had allegedly been fixing his car and had overheard the incident on July 27. The video footage does not feature Henton.

Finally, Fitzgerald added that the State’s procured footage showcases an altercation between Allen and “a white woman who drives a dark SUV” like Noble’s. However, according to Fitzgerald, the incident lacked a formal identification procedure — when Allen would have been asked to identify who called him a racial slur — which tends to the conclusion that Noble was “not the defendant.”

“The allegations made by the complainant are serious and the State has taken these allegations quite seriously,” Fitzgerald said. “We did a thorough investigation into this — these allegations. And after that thorough investigation, the State has concluded that these allegations cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Audrey Felsen, the attorney representing Noble, added that Noble has “steadfastly maintained her innocence” and expended “an insane amount of her resources” to resolve the case, including allegedly taking a polygraph test, which Felsen said the defendant passed.

Polygraph tests are not admissible in court.

“The allegations were never true,” Noble wrote to the News. “Video evidence that existed from day one fully exonerated me, just as I said from the very beginning. The fact that it took nearly a year and exorbitant legal fees to get to this outcome is inexcusable.”

Erskine McIntosh, a lawyer representing Allen, objected to the motion to dismiss the charges during the hearing.

According to Fitzgerald, Felsen had requested video footage from several angles throughout the hearing process. Though such footage was provided to the defense on “at least three occasions,” certain angles were missing because of “technological difficulties [when] extracting the video from the recording device on which it was captured.”

In an interview with the News, McIntosh elaborated that he was “profoundly disappointed” with the court date’s delay and the final motion to dismiss, and alluded to potential further legal action by Allen. No cases have been filed thus far.

“At no time did the prosecutor ever tell me that the state believed that Mr. Allen’s allegations were false or erroneous,” McIntosh clarified. “It was just that they could not uphold the burden of proof.”

Following comments from Fitzgerald, McIntosh, Allen and Felsen, the presiding judge granted the motion of dismissal.

Noble’s warrant was subsequently sealed, and the charges against her were dropped on March 27.

Noble founded the Buckley Institute in 2011, an organisation focused on “fostering intellectual diversity at Yale”. 

Noble is not employed by Yale, nor is the Buckley Program funded by the University.

Ariela Lopez contributed reporting.

Correction, April 25: This article has been corrected to state that Iannotti is a state judge and that Noble’s attorney requested video footage from different angles. The News had preciously stated that Iannotti was a federal judge and that Allen’s attorney had requested said footage.

Correction, May 2: A previous version of this article stated incorrectly that Noble failed to appear at scheduled court hearings. The News regrets these errors.