BELLEFONTE, Pa. _ State prosecutors began laying out their case Friday morning against 11 Pennsylvania State University fraternity members accused in the death of sophomore pledge Tim Piazza after a house party a little over a year ago.
None of the defendants were in court, waiving their right to be present as the preliminary hearing got underway before Centre County Judge Allen Sinclair. It's the second time in less than a year the case will go before Sinclair, and also comes as state Sen. Majority Leader Jake Corman unveils legislation that would toughen penalties for hazing deaths.
Piazza, a sophomore from New Jersey, died in February 2017 from injuries he suffered after drinking copious amounts of alcohol, fell down the stairs and was left unattended for hours after a pledge ritual party at Beta Theta Pi. His death and the subsequent charges have drawn national attention and led to a crackdown on Greek life at Penn State's flagship campus.
The preliminary hearing could tread much of the same ground as last year's multi-day proceeding, and defense lawyers at the outset were angling to prevent that.
Brian Zarallo, a longtime Philadelphia assistant district attorney who joined the Attorney General's Office this year, told the judge the prosecution would present a streamlined case, including about two hours of surveillance video from the house on the night Pizza suffered his fatal injuries.
Despite objections from the defense, Sinclair told him to proceed. "I'll make the decision if I've seen too much already," he said.
The hearing last summer culminated with a surprising Sept. 1 ruling by Sinclair to throw out the most serious felony charges against eight of the fraternity members last September and remove all charges against four others.
Former Centre County Prosecutor Stacy Parks Miller refiled the charges in October and charged 12 additional members of the fraternity in Piazza's death after recovering footage from a basement video camera, for a total of 26. After she lost a bid for re-election, new Centre County District Attorney Bernard Cantorna, citing a conflict of interest, asked the attorney general's office to take the case.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro earlier this month declined to press aggravated assault charges against the fraternity members, but charged five of them with involuntary manslaughter. In addition to the 11 facing the hearing Friday, three others previously waived their right to a preliminary hearing and were held for trial. The other 12 charged will face a preliminary hearing in May.
The hearing was supposed to start Thursday, but was postponed because of weather. Sinclair has set aside six days for the hearing if needed.
Corman is scheduled to announce the details of his legislation outside the Bellefonte courthouse during a break in the proceedings Friday.
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