A judge, lawyers and the fraternity members facing charges surrounding the death of Penn State sophomore Timothy Piazza watched hours of video footage in a preliminary hearing Monday. The judge ordered a continuance as the trial was nearing its eleventh hour.
Sixteen fraternity brothers and their lawyers overflowed into the gallery of the courtroom.
Timothy Piazza’s parents left before playback of the surveillance video. The detective on the case identified fraternity members by name as they handed Piazza vodka and beer, carried him by his arms and legs after an off-camera fall down a flight of stairs, and – after they found him cold and stiff in the morning – as they waited another 41 minutes before calling police.
Centre County DA Stacy Parks Miller also introduced scores of text messages from previous years’ hazings.
“They did it before over and over again and people were sick every time," Parks Miller said. "So they cannot say, ‘It’s the first time we did this. We did not know how disastrous this would be.”
The judge will schedule a date soon to finish the preliminary hearing.
