As I read the AWC, it alleges that Alonso "had access" to study materials but not that Alonso "accessed" study materials. Accordingly, the AWC asserts that Alonso was in close enough proximity to the study materials that, if she wanted to read them, she had access to them in order to accomplish her intention. Notably, pointedly, there is no allegation whatsoever in the AWC that Alonso accessed the study materials. 

There is a world of difference between accusing someone of "accessing" something and saying that they "had access" to the same thing. The President of the United States may have access to the launch codes for nuclear weapons but that's quite different from saying that he accessed the codes, launched missiles, and set off a nuclear war. Imagine if Alonso had access to the self destruct device for the FINRA Series 7 exam center!

After informing us that Alonso had access to study materials, the AWC then asserts that she had left those materials in the restroom. Okay, fine -- she could have left the materials in a locker, she could have left the materials in a garbage can on the street, she could have thrown the materials out the window. For all we know, Alonso had abandoned her study materials in the last convenient place available (the restroom) before entering the test room. Regardless of the myriad of possibilities about where Alonso could have left her study materials, it appears that she opted for a restroom. Notably, she left the materials in the restroom prior to entering the examination room where she would physically sit down and take her Series 7 examination. As such, we got Alonso sitting in a room taking her exam and we have her study materials in a restroom.  

Perhaps, Alonso gave her study materials one, last, quick review in the restroom and then left them there. I can remember taking the Bar exam and showing up at the test center with no study materials; however, I still remember those poor, frenetic souls who were still cramming in the hallway up to the last minute before they had to show their identification and enter the testing center. In case you were wondering, I passed the Bar on my first try -- so there!

In making its case against Alonso, FINRA alleged that she took about a 15-minute unscheduled break. Okay, so, let's see: There are scheduled breaks and unscheduled breaks. What kind of "unscheduled" break did Alonso take? Without fabricating facts not in evidence, I want you to cite to me the language in the AWC that explains why Alonso took an unscheduled break, where she went on the break, and what she was observed doing during the 15 minutes in which she went on and then came back from the break. Did she have severe allergies and asked permission to step into the hallway, blow her nose, take an allergy pill, and a sip of water from the water cooler? Did she have a splitting headache and stepped outside to take an aspirin? Did she have a back spasm and needed to get up and stretch. I could go on asking you questions but what's the point, right? The exam was in 2021, as in during the Covid pandemic: was Alonso recovering from a bout of Covid and needed to step outside for a sip of water? The answer as to what Alonso did during her 15-minute unscheduled break should be -- must be -- set out with clarity in the AWC. After all, it's what she did during those fateful 15 minutes that got her fined and suspended. So . . . just write down the specific words of allegation from FINRA's AWC and let me know what Alonso did to violate a rule or regulation warranting a $5,000 fine and an 18-month suspension.

What I find absolutely shocking and odd is that there is no allegation in the AWC that Alonso accessed her study materials in the restroom during the break. Moreover, there is no allegation that any test-center proctor saw her doing as much. You may "think" whatever you wish as to what happened during the 15-minutes at issue but it would be nothing more than unsubstantiated conjecture. Re-read the AWC and you will note that it merely alleges that Alonso had "access to study materials," but doesn't actually go a step further and state that she accessed the materials or that anyone saw her doing as much. As best I can tell, the charge against Alonso is that she had agreed to "store all personal items in the locker" but in the case of said study materials, "Left [them] in the restroom prior to taking the examination."