A judge has ordered 12 members of a Penn State fraternity to stand trial in a pledge's death but has thrown out the most serious charges, including involuntary manslaughter and felony counts of aggravated assault.
District Justice Allen Sinclair dismissed charges against four frat brothers.
RELATED:
18 fraternity brothers charged in death of Penn State student during booze-fueled pledge night
Video of Penn State fraternity incident was deleted, officer testifies
Shocking details released in death of Penn State fraternity pledge
He issued the ruling Friday after a seven-day preliminary hearing. Two other students previously agreed to have their cases go to trial.
Security camera footage from the since-closed Beta Theta Pi fraternity captured 19-year-old Tim Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, falling several times in the hours after he and other pledges were run through a drinking gauntlet. Doctors said he had consumed a toxic level of alcohol.
He suffered for hours from severe head and abdominal injuries before his frat brothers called an ambulance the next morning. He died a day later, on Feb. 4, of injuries including a fractured skull and damaged spleen.
Defense lawyers say Piazza's death was tragic but unforeseeable.
