BELLEFONTE, Pa. _ Lawyers for 18 Pennsylvania State University fraternity members charged in the hazing death of a pledge earlier this year sought Friday to compel testimony from a live-in adviser who they say condoned and attempted to cover up a booze-fueled party that ended in tragedy earlier this year.
Tim Bream, a 56-year-old university employee, has not been charged in the case and was not in the Centre County courtroom despite defense attempts to subpoena him as a witness.
His absence _ and a debate over the relevance of his testimony _ brought the fifth day of a key pretrial hearing for the members of the now shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity to a screeching halt as court staff scrambled to decide how to ensure his appearance in court.
Since proceedings against the fraternity brothers began in May, their lawyers have sought to shift the blame for 19-year-old Tim Piazza's Feb. 4 death onto Bream, whom they have painted as an adult supervisor and the ultimate authority for what went on in the fraternity house that night.
"Tim Bream was in the house in a position to stop this," said Leonard G. Ambrose III, lawyer for Joe Sala, 19, of Erie, in court Friday. The 18 charged students "operated under the assumption that this was condoned behavior."
Bream's attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
But Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller has frequently expressed frustration with this line of argument. She reiterated Friday that whatever Bream's own culpability might be, it did nothing to mitigate the blame that each of the charged fraternity members shares.
"I barely know what to say to this idea that Mr. Bream is some sort of magic wand to legal behavior," she said. "Did Mr. Bream approve? Even if he did, it does not excuse their criminal activity."
Judge Allen Sinclair is weighing whether enough evidence exists to allow the charges against 16 of the fraternity members to proceed to trial.
Prosecutors say the fraternity brothers pressured Piazza, a sophomore engineering major from Lebanon, N.J., to become dangerously drunk during an initiation ritual and then left him as he tumbled down stairs, stumbled into doors, and was beaten and taunted at the party. The events were caught on harrowing security camera footage from the fraternity house that night.
Two days after the party, Piazza died of a head injury, a ruptured spleen, and a collapsed lung.
In defense questioning of the case's lead investigator over the last two days, lawyers for the fraternity brothers have alleged that Bream met weekly with the fraternity's executive board, was informed of upcoming parties, and had "personally approved" an alcohol-chugging obstacle course that left Piazza unable to stand.
On Friday, they also highlighted a text message exchange between two of the defendants that suggests Bream may have encouraged them to delete text messages from the night of the party for fear that they later might be leaked to reporters covering Piazza's death.
"Tim was thinking of a way to carry out the cover-up and prevent people from viewing the texts," Ambrose said.
The fraternity members facing the most serious charges _ involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault _ are: Sala; Beta Theta Pi fraternity president Brendan Young, 21, of Malvern; pledge master Daniel Casey, 19, of Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Luke Visser, 19, of Encinitas, Calif.; Gary DiBileo, 21, of Scranton; Nick Kubera, 19, of Downingtown; Michael Bonatucci, 19, of Woodstock, Ga.; and Jonah Neuman, 19, of Nashville.
Ten others face lesser charges, including hazing, recklessly endangering another person, furnishing alcohol to minors and tampering with evidence.
