Detective in pledge death case: Drinking "rite of passage" for Penn State frat

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- A police detective was questioned for a third day Tuesday about the events at a Penn State fraternity house earlier this year that led to the death of a 19-year-old pledge who endured a series of falls during a night of heavy drinking.

Lawyers for members of the now-shuttered Beta Theta Pi house have been pressing State College Police Detective Dave Scicchitano about his investigation into the pledge ceremony and subsequent party that preceded the Feb. 4 death of Tim Piazza, of Lebanon, New Jersey.

Among the issues is whether Piazza, a sophomore engineering student, would have felt pressured into drinking as he and other pledges were directed through a series of drinking stations involving beer, wine and vodka.

Scicchitano said joining in the drinking was a "rite of passage and the way to get in" to the fraternity.

Defense attorneys have also questioned Scicchitano about whether Piazza fell down a set of basement steps the next morning or could have walked down. The detective said both scenarios are possible.

Fraternity members who found Piazza in the basement and carried him back upstairs waited about 40 minutes before calling 911. Piazza later died at a hospital, and authorities have said he suffered severe head and abdominal injuries and had consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol.

The hearing is for the fraternity chapter and 16 of its members. Some are accused of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, while others face less serious allegations. Two defendants waived the hearing.

Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said Tuesday the hearing was likely to stretch another day or two, given the number of defendants. She said Scicchitano will be her only witness.

The judge will decide if prosecutors have presented enough evidence to send the charges to county court for trial.

Monday, the judge heard evidence of frantic texts from Penn State fraternity brothers in the incident's aftermath. Prosecutors introduced a text from the house pledge master that said "it's over" and that he didn't "want to go to jail" for it.

Another text between fraternity brothers, as Piazza was near death in a hospital, says, "he drank because we hazed him."

Other texts alluded to alleged covering up of evidence: "Make sure the pledges clean the basement, and get rid of any evidence of alcohol," one read. 

"Make sure the pledges keep quiet about last night and this situation," a text from another frat member read.

Piazza's family told "CBS This Morning" last month his death was "murder" and "torture."

Penn State has permanently banned the fraternity, saying the school found "a persistent pattern" of excess drinking, drug use and hazing, and the fraternity's national organization disbanded the chapter.

Last month a spokesperson for the fraternity told "CBS This Morning": "As these hearings begin, Beta Theta Pi International Fraternity has confidence in the judicial system that due process and justice can and will be served. We will continue to cooperate with authorities in all manners to make sure of it."