After Brady DiStefano's no contest plea, Caleb Zweig's father says justice system 'failed us miserably'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A father's fight for justice ended this week when the person accused of killing his son pleaded no contest to lesser charges.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania student Caleb Zweig died after an altercation with a fraternity brother six years ago. His father, David Zweig, believes the conviction falls far short of the crime.
Six years ago, David Zweig got the call parents fear most. His beloved son was dead as a result of a late-night altercation with fraternity brother Brady DiStefano, who was originally charged with homicide and aggravated assault.
But this week after years of delays, suppressed evidence and appeals, David Zweig says his fight for justice ended when DiStefano entered a plea of no contest to the charge of involuntary manslaughter, a conviction whose guidelines call for three to 12 months in jail.
"I never buried a child before, and when this first happened I had no choice but to believe in the legal system," David Zweig said. "I couldn't think straight. I couldn't see straight. I was grief-stricken. I still am. And I believed the system was going to work, and it did not. It did not. It failed us miserably."
At the preliminary hearing, a witness said he heard DiStefano and Caleb Zweig arguing that night and saw DiStefano's hands on or around Caleb Zweig's neck. And when he pulled DiStefano off, Caleb Zweig was unresponsive.
But the original trial judge threw the charges out, agreeing with defense attorney Thomas Dickey, who said the witness couldn't definitively say DiStefano choked Caleb Zweig and an autopsy found no marks around his neck.
What followed has been several years of appeals and delays, but Dickey said despite his advice to finally go to trial, he said DeStefino agreed this week to plead no contest to the manslaughter charge.
"I believe my client committed no crime. However, he wanted to bring closure to himself and to the Zweig family," Dickey told KDKA-TV.
"Let's face it," David Zweig said. "The previous administration, the DA, the judge at the time, the forensic pathologist, they botched the case."
But after six years, David Zweig says he can only accept the outcome.
"I think about what my son would say and I think he'd say, 'Dad, you did well. You did as good as you could do.' I take solace in that," he said.
DiStefano faces sentencing in June. Since the night, DiStefano has married and has two children. His attorney will ask that he be given house arrest.