Burton's defenders, however, said Burton believed the buttons were a freely available resource at the time he took them.

Ultimately, the council was not convinced that Burton had misrepresented his actions to the election commission.

"From the evidence, I didn't think he lied," said Saadi Soudavar '99-'00. "I thought the point was well made about how the council [shouldn't] supercede the Election Commission."

None of the three Election Commission members present at the meeting said they believed Burton had lied to the commission.

Driskell and Erica A. Farmer '01, who was one of the two students who officially spoke in Burton's defense, said they believed testimony by Michael A. Hill '01 secured their victory on the first article of impeachment.

When Frank X. Leonard '01, prosecuting the case against Burton, asked Hill if another candidate could have taken buttons from the BGLTSA's resource center, Hill said "Just come in and take one. Anyone can do so."

Leonard, visibly frustrated, asked the question several more times, but Hill said nothing to suggest that the BGLTSA would not have given buttons to other candidates.