The trial date has been postponed for former Beta Theta Pi fraternity members charged following the death of Timothy Piazza.
Centre County President Judge Pamela Ruest signed an order this week granting the prosecution’s request to move the case to the April term of court. Initially scheduled for the December term, in the fall it was postponed to the February term.
The trial would be for the 15 initial defendants — 14 former former fraternity brothers and the Alpha Upsilon Chapter of Beta Theta Pi — who had charges bound over following a preliminary hearing that took place over the course of the summer.
Piazza, a 19-year-old Penn State sophomore from Lebanon, N.J. who was pledging the now-banned fraternity, died in February 2017 following a bid acceptance event and party at the Beta Theta Pi house. He sustained fatal brain injuries after falling multiple times during the night and investigators said he was given at least 18 alcoholic drinks in a period of 82 minutes. He first fell head-first down the basement shortly after 11 p.m., but paramedics were not called until 10:48 a.m. the following morning.
In May, a Centre County Grand Jury recommended charges against 19 defendants. After the preliminary hearing, District Judge Allen Sinclair dismissed some charges — including aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter — against some defendants, while others were bound over. Four defendants had charges dismissed altogether.
Former District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller refiled those dismissed charges in October. In November, after deleted footage was recovered from surveillance cameras in the fraternity’s basement, new charges were filed against 12 new defendants and five already facing charges, bringing the total number to 27.
Preliminary hearings have not yet been scheduled on the refiled and new charges. Last week, Ruest denied Parks Miller’s motion from the fall to have a different district judge oversee a new preliminary hearing on the refiled charges.
The case generally remains in a holding pattern as it moves to a new prosecutor. Before taking office, new District Attorney Bernie Cantorna asked the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General to take over the case, citing an unspecified conflict of interest. A spokesman for Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the office had accepted the case and was conducting an independent review.
