The Inquirer explains: "In September, Judge Allen Sinclair gutted the prosecution's case, throwing out the most serious felony charges against the fraternity members and saying prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to support them. Over the last several months we listened to defense arguments centered around victim blaming or how could the defendants have known they were putting someone seriously at risk since no one died before, as if they were entitled to one free death, or the catch all argument of, We dont know,' he said. While I don't disagree with your overall premise, rationality largely goes out the window at the death of a loved one - particularly when it's a child. He got up and tried to reach the front door but fell head first into it, knocking himself unconscious again. Lawyers for the victim's family described the video as "gruesome.". At this point normal people would call for medical help. Penn State's former Beta Theta Pi fraternity house now sits empty. Piazza subsequently stumbled toward the basement steps, then fell down them. He rolled off the couch again and curled his body, clutching his abdomen. "The visions of him lying in a hospital bed battered and bruised and on life support make no sense. The continuation comes after nearly 12 hours of testimony and hours of surveillance footage from the fraternity house on the night Timothy Piazza, a sophomore from New Jersey, fell during a bid acceptance night party. Tim then woke up the following morning still alone and attempted to move. But the hazing was not the unconscionable part of what happened, and it wasn't what led to his death. WebTim Piazza may have been somewhat complicit in the hazing. WebOne of the 18 Beta Theta Pi members charged with the Feb. 4 death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza removed everything from the basement camera two days after his alcohol-related What led to his death was the negligent behavior of the fraternity members after Tim was first injured. I mean, based on your logic that would be completely selfish and out of line of you. Even if they aren't and are just held to the standard of roommates look at the whole situation. Excerpts from the footage havebeen compelling: Fraternity members are shown holding Piazza down, strapping him to a backpack to keep him from turning over and choking, pouring liquids on him and trying to get him to stand so they could dress him even whenhe appeared to be unconscious. Piazza was part of it, and idolizing him can only make this horrible situation worse. I mean, that's the whole point of this subreddit. Power your marketing strategy with perfectly branded videos to drive better ROI. Everybody so far has been talking about either how the parent's actions are justifiable in their grief, or that the fraternity is responsible for intentionally trying to cover up his injuries and delaying medical treatment after he fell. Eight fraternity brothers are facing manslaughter charges in connection with Piazza's death. The district attorney's office in Centre County, Pennsylvania, has announced new charges in the death of Tim Piazza. I see the frat members as stupid, not evil. We've received your submission. WebSurveillance video played in court reportedly shows Piazza repeatedly falling, passing out and tumbling head-first down a flight of stairs, and no one called 911 for hours. Flanked by Piazza's parents, Centre County district attorney Stacy Parks Miller told reporters that 12 new defendants, as well as five old ones, are facing new criminal charges, including involuntary manslaughter, hazing and giving alcohol to minors. WebDeleted surveillance video from inside a Penn State fraternity house recovered by prosecutors has led to new charges. Because court recessed without a decision, all 16 men are expected to be back in court in the coming weeks. For the time he was awake during those twelve hours he was in agony. Authorities based the new charges on the Beta Theta Pi basement surveillance footage deleted by a fraternity member following the 19-year-old's death. Piazza never obtained any of the drinks himself, Miller said. 16 students face judge in Penn State hazing death of Timothy Piazza, 'He looked like a corpse': Video shown of Penn State pledge after fatal injuries, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Reporters describe the tension between the fraternity brothers and the grieving parents: According to the Inquirer report, Tim's father, Jim, "glared" at Joseph Ems Jr., who is accused of throwing a shoe at Piazza and slapping him in the abdomen. When you get somebody into an environment where they have seemingly no way out, where every authority figure is encouraging or forcing you to drink and nobody would help you, say, leave and go home safely, it is extremely difficult to turn down drinks. You or your parents wouldnt file charges right? He did not reveal the name of the member in question. Pledges showed signs of intoxication, and Piazza had to be helped to a couch. Piazza, who was left on a first-floor couch overnight, made severalattempts to get up but fell multiple times,in some cases hitting his head and falling down the stairs. I mean, this is a very speculative statement at best. "However, after later examining one of the DVR surveillance boxes, State College Police uncovered evidence that the basement camera footage had actually been manually deleted just as State College Police were poised to take possession of the recording equipment.". During questioning in court Thursday, Scicchitano said one of the 18 fraternity members already facing charges in connection to Piazza's death earlier this year may have deleted the basement video. One person even recommended that help be contacted but was ignored and he was left on a couch. This story has been shared 102,156 times. PennLive.come reports State College Police Detective David Scicchitano was on the witness stand for nearly 10 hours during the hearing. The fraternity brothers who encouraged him to drink had power over him while he was, for several reasons, unable to effectively say no or fully understand his actions. While this event is horribly tragic, I don't think it serves anyone to blame the other fraternity members and act like Timothy piazza had no involvement. His tragic death made national headlines after it was revealed that frat members didn't alert authorities until about 12 hours after he fell down the stairs. Now it's not just the prior negligence, but further abuse of an injured, unconscious person. Fraternity members found him in the basement the next morning andcarried him back upstairs. Timothy Piazza, 19, from New Jersey died after falling down a flight of stairs during a hazing ritual at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house. On Thursday, lawyerTheodore Simon saidduring the early morning hours before Piazza was found in the basement, he could be seen walking to a set of patio doors and closing them indicating the pledge wascoherent andfunctioning during this time, the Centre Daily Times reported. He was pronounced dead after roughly 20 hours of surgery proved that he could not likely recover. Every drink consumed was provided to him by a fraternity brother: DA. I cannot stress this enough. He too live-tweeted. Piazza, a 19-year-old engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey, suffered a fractured skull, shattered spleen and other injuries, likely during a series of falls inside the house. Maybe he didn't need to go to an event where he knew there would be drinking, but it's doubtful he expected to be forced to drink as much as he was or that he could have possibly been making rational decisions a few drinks in. He was carried to a couch, where surveillance cameras captured the formation of a large and obvious bruise on his left abdomen. The new charges are based on surveillance footage that authorities managed to recover after a frat brother deleted it. "State College Police sent the box to the FBI, whose agents were able to restore the video from the deleted hard drive," the district attorney's office said. Alexandersen said fraternity brothers were "intensely" watching the video of Piazza writhe in pain on the floor in the hours after his fall. Web237K views 5 years ago There are new developments in connection with the case of the fraternity hazing ritual at Penn State that allegedly caused the tragic death of 19-year-old Join Vimeo I posted here because I realized my opinion on the incident is different then just about anyone elses. Any one of these members could have called for help. "Parks Miller has vowed to push forward with the case and refiled those felony counts last month. She lost a primary election in the spring and is set to leave office in January. I'm not involved in this situation, and I'm not a bad guy. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. This might not be as bad as consciously deciding to delay medical treatment, but this is still something the fraternity brothers should be culpable for. A fraternity is supposed to be like a second family. Another 11 frat members are already facing similar charges. I'm pissed at these guys, and I've got no skin in the game. Ed Gilmartin was there. In the early morning of February 3, 2017, Piazza tried to get up, but once he reached a standing position, fell backwards. "She has asked that the case be reassigned to another judge, but she is working against the clock. Timothy is accountable for over consuming alcohol (under severe social pressure from his Brothers, which could easily be argued as coercion). In the video, Piazza appeared visibly drunk during the hazing ritual on Feb. 2; he was wobbling as he Attorney Rocco Cipparone Jr., whose client Michael Bonatucci was accused of new counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and liquor code violations, said he hopes the next district attorney will take a fresh look at the case and some of the charging decisions that have been made.. I can honestly say that would not be how my mind would work. Prosecutors have filed new charges against members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Penn State, alleging that newly recovered video shows them serving pledge Timothy Piazza excessive quantities of alcohol. Her successor Bernie Cantorna has not said whether or not he intends to proceed with the prosecution.". At the news conference Monday, Piazza's father said he is committed to pursuing the charges against the members of the fraternity, which has been shut down by Penn State. The testimony came on the fourth day of a preliminary hearing for 16 members of Beta Theta Pi facing charges that includeinvoluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in the Feb. 4 death of engineering student Timothy Piazza, 19. That's just all manner of fucked up. Well, we beat him and slapped him, what more could we do? He had ruptured spleen and was bleeding internally to the point that he was in class IV hemorrhagic shock (the worst level of shock caused by blood loss) by the time he made it to the hospital. It's a horrible idea for any crime, this one included. UhhI'm not affiliated with penn state or a fraternity in general. Piazzadied in ahospital Feb. 4, about 30 hours after a bid acceptance partyin which the former high school football player fell repeatedly. Three brothers picked him up and "slammed" him back onto the couch. This was men who intended to force-feed lethal amounts of alcohol into other young men. Gary DiBileo Jr. of Scranton left the Centre County Courthouse without knowing when he'll be back and if the charges against him will go to trial. Some time later, Piazza regained consciousness and rolled off the couch. "A young man died unnecessarily," she said. The next morning at 10am (not a moment before), a search for Piazza led brothers to the basement where He is estimated to have had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of nearly .40 on the night of the hazing incident. This is especially true when the victim is a minor who was not used to binge drinking, and even more especially true after he's already too drunk to make good decisions. He can't protect himself from the alcohol and the injuries, and it goes on and on until he dies, and then they don't render aid at that point. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Frat member found dead at accused Idaho killer's former university, Bowling Green reaches $3.9M settlement over student's hazing death, University investigating hazing within football program, Virginia Commonwealth University to allow school-brand beer on campus after frat hazing death, died from injuries he sustained as one of 14 pledges at a bid acceptance party. To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com. (Patrick Carns/Patrick Carns). And as tragic as the loss of this young man is, Joey Ems never should have been charged with a crime.. At one point, the men can be seen trying to dress him, but struggling against the stiffness that had set into his limbs, grand jurors said. ABC News' Gregory Croft and Stephanie Gomulka contributed to this report. Two of the defendants waived their rights to a hearing. He later tried once more to descend the basement stairs, but fell down again, and remained at the base of the stairs until several of the fraternity brothers discovered him several hours later behind the bar in the basement, cold and breathing rapidly. But they are not evil. I guess that is what has really skewed my opinion of this whole thing. Before emergency assistance arrived, the brothers wiped blood from his face and attempted to dress him, but his body was too rigid to successfully put clothes on. First published on November 13, 2017 / 12:53 PM. I don't even know where you get the whole idea I am making personal digs at people, or how you can think anything i said could only be thought by a frat bro, or whatever. Privacy Policy | Messages left for most other defendants or their lawyers were not immediately returned Monday. Sure. Piazza, a 19-year-old sophomore from New Jersey, died after tumbling down a flight of stairs and fracturing his skull during an alcohol-fueled pledge ritual at the Beta Theta Pi house on Feb. 4. His lawyer did not return a message seeking comment. Tim Piazza may have been somewhat complicit in the hazing. before we start calling them 'kids' and letting them off the hook for killing people. Nonetheless, we d not typically try to blame the victim in order to exonerate the perpetrator in these cases, because that just perpetuates a climate in which those crimes are allowed to happen and perpetrators feel secure that they won't be blamed. These were supposed to be his friends. WebPiazza, a 19-year-old sophomore at Penn State, fell down the stairs at the Beta Theta Pi house during a night of drinking for a pledge ceremony there on Feb. 2. Scicchitano testified in court that Piazza "looked like a corpse" the morning after the fall. The surgeons attempting to save his life deemed the injuries to likely be nonrecoverable, and Piazza was pronounced dead in the early morning of February 4, 2017. And again, we get back to taking responsibility for your actions. Prosecutors claim fraternity members Let's look at the Wikipedia article about the incident. Piazza's parents, Jim and Evelyn of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, left the courtroom before the prosecution began airing the footage, narrated by Scicchitano. More:16 students face judge in Penn State hazing death of Timothy Piazza, More:'He looked like a corpse': Video shown of Penn State pledge after fatal injuries. Ok, so they are already violating the alcohol-free provision. The Beta Theta Pi house was shut down shortly thereafter and remains empty. He seems to want to use it that way, and is manipulating the media to do so. He's black out drunk and stumbling around, and he's just left alone? This is a footnote from the CMV moderators. There's fault to go around there. The preliminary hearing for the Penn State fraternity brothers accused in the hazing death of a 19-year-old student has been continued to a to-be-decided upon date, according to reports. Not calling 911 immediately is not Piazza fault. 2023 Telepictures Productions Inc. Reach him at: justin@cbsnews.com. Centre County Report. Becker, 21, of Niskayuna, New York, was charged with evidence tampering, obstruction and hindering a prosecution. A sketch shows the preliminary hearing in the death of Penn State student Timothy Piazza resumes in Centre County Courthouse, Bellefonte, Penn., Aug. 10, 2017. The fraternity was supposed to be alcohol-free after a suspension in 2009. Scicchitano replied he did not, saying the girls were not wearing name badges, and recommended that they come forward to police. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Tim Piazza (center) is pictured with his parents, Evelyn and James. In May, a grandjury concluded fraternity members were indifferent to Piazza's condition as they deleted text messages andattempted to conceal evidence of hazing and underage drinking. I'm not hanging on tooth and nail to anything, because I'm not invested in this on a personal level. His "brothers," could have handled it better, but it is clear his parents taught him no accountability, and have no idea what it is themselves. On the night of February 2, 2017, while undergoing hazing rituals for the fraternity, Piazza, on an essentially empty stomach, drank large amounts of alcohol in a short time as part of an obstacle course called "The Gauntlet", which required each pledge to drink from a bottle of vodka, drink a beer, and finally drink from a bag of wine. Piazza, of Lebanon, New Jersey, died from injuries he sustained as one of 14 pledges at a bid acceptance party that included a hazing ritual known as the gauntlet, requiring participants to drink wine, beer and vodka in rapid succession. But the hazing was not the unconscionable part of what happened, and it wasn't what led to his death. I haven't liked the idolization of him, and how the parents have basically ripped on everyone that their son has ever known. Video on a camera insidea Penn State fraternity house was erasedtwo days after a pledge died followinga night of hazing and heavy drinking, a detective testified Thursday, according to media reports. "The videotape is horrible, and it is gruesome," Kline said. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Upon arrival, Piazza was rushed into surgery, where he was discovered to have a ruptured spleen and class IV hemorrhagic shock. 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