Ex-ND professor asks judge to dismiss charges

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A former University of Notre Dame professor is asking a federal judge to dismiss a seven-count indictment against him.

U.S. District Judge Jon DeGuilio is scheduled to hold an evidentiary hearing on the motion by Oliver Collins on March 12. Collins was indicted by a grand jury in July on three counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds and four counts of mail fraud. The charges allege that while he was tenured electrical engineering professor at Notre Dame, he used grant money to buy four cameras that were not used for research but for personal use.

He contends the charges should be dismissed because electronic data at Notre Dame that would have proved his innocence is missing.

Notre Dame fired Collins in June 2010.