Penn State frat hazing death trial scheduled for February

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- Members of a Penn State University fraternity charged in connection with the death of a pledge after a night of hazing and drinking are scheduled to go to trial early next year.

Centre County Judge Jonathan Grine set aside 20 days for the trial involving 21 members of the now-closed Beta Theta Pi fraternity, starting Feb. 6.

Defendants are accused of hazing, reckless endangerment and other offenses after the death last year of 19-year-old pledge Tim Piazza, of Lebanon, New Jersey.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21 for 10 defendants, and Grine says they must appear in court in person.

Piazza suffered a fractured skull, a shattered spleen and other injuries. Authorities say he had consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol.

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