Judge to decide today if PSU students go to trial

the others after saying they wanted to call an ambulance for Mr. Piazza after he fell down the stairs.

“That is not someone who is acting recklessly with disregard for human life,” Mr. Engle said.

The other two were not charged by the prosecution.

If the charges stemmed from Mr. DiBileo running a wine station during the drinking gauntlet, Mr. Engle argued there’s no proof Mr. Piazza ever drank from a wine bag.

Ms. Parks Miller struck back, arguing that every member charged contributed to Mr. Piazza’s death and their roles are visible on an hours-long video the prosecution showed during the first day of the preliminary hearing.

“I think they forget,” she said of the lawyers, “we saw the crime on video.”

In response to Mr. Simon’s questions about when the fatal injury occurred, she pointed to testimony from a medical official who said “it’s entirely reasonable” to conclude that Mr. Piazza’s injuries were sustained in his fall down the basement steps.

She also became frustrated with the lengthy closing arguments made by some lawyers. Mr. Simon’s took 90 minutes.

“I feel like I’m in the middle of a trial,” she said. “This isa preliminary hearing.”

Rocco Cipparone Jr., who represented Michael Bonatucci, said he thinks he was able to show weaknesses in Ms. Parks Miller’s caseand hopes the judge will dismiss key counts, including aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing.

“From their perspective, although it’s a different kind of suffering than the Piazza family is going through, it’s still a lot of emotional and frankly financial suffering,” he said. “These are charges that expose him to a felony conviction, significant misdemeanor convictions and jail time and that never should have been lodged against him in the first place.”