Bellefonte, Pa- We have an update from the preliminary hearing of 7 Beta Theta Pi brothers being charged with reckless endangerment charges along with many other charges.
Tuesday marked the 4th preliminary hearing for 7 Beta brothers…. who include:
Brendan Young, Daniel Casey, Michael Bonatucci, Nicholas Kubera, Jonah Neuman, Joshua Kurczewsk and Braxton Becker. Becker is accused of deleting the surveillance video from the house including video from the night of Timothy Piazza’s death.
The main topic discussed during the morning session of Tuesday’s hearing came through testimony from a Penn State Director of health promotion and wellness, who leads an alcohol education program that students including these 7 brothers, are encouraged to take before coming to Penn State as first-years.
The prosecution attempted to use evidence from this online program to prove that all 7 brothers completed the program and had knowledge not only of the dangers or drinking in excess, but also to call 9-1-1 when seeing the signs of someone who blacked out from heavy alcohol consumption. The prosecution also highlighted policy that wiped away all possession and consumption charges for students drinking underage… when they call 9-1-1 for a blacked-out friend in need.
The defense argued that since the class was online, anyone could’ve logged in to complete the course under one of the brother’s names.
They also pushed towards emphasizing that the online class was to teach individuals, such as Piazza ,about the dangers of heavy drinking, thus putting the blame on Piazza himself for drinking.