A California appellate court has revived the appeal of a Claremont McKenna College student who was suspended for a year for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy.

The Second District Court of Appeal on Wednesday found that in cases “where the accused student faces a severe penalty and the school’s determination turns on the complaining witness’s credibility,” the fact-finding body should hear directly from the accuser. The court also determined that the accused should have the opportunity to question the accuser, even if only indirectly—an opportunity, wrote Justice Helen Bendix in Wednesday’s 29-page opinion, that “not exist here.”