Centre Co., PA (WJAC) — It’s been nearly seven years since the fraternity hazing death of Penn State student Timothy Piazza.
Resulting legal cases are still being argued in criminal and civil courts, with another judge's ruling being made just this week.
The new ruling comes from the judge overseeing the federal, wrongful death civil suit filed by Timothy Piazza's parents.
Piazza died in February of 2017 after attending a pledge event at the former Beta Theta Pi fraternity house at Penn State.
The latest ruling on Tuesday concerns the status of third-party organizations in the case, like Penn State's Interfraternity Council and a security firm.
At one point in the new ruling, the judge specifically sites "the relatively slow progress of this litigation, mostly attributable to pending criminal proceedings.”
Twenty-eight people, mostly fraternity brothers, were charged in the original criminal case and for two of those defendants, Brendan Young and Daniel Casey, the case is ongoing, partially due to a dispute over cell phone evidence.
The federal judge for Piazza's civil case previously said that the Centre County criminal case has precedent.
A trial date for September of this year has been tentatively set for the criminal case.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfp8Kttc2gZJynpafBbq%2FEp6urnV2lsq%2B6jKyrmqyVYr2qrdmzmGabkaiybrjAsKquoaRis7Ot056pp6GkrnqprdmipaBllJqutbSMqZynpqOuubetzaKYZqGeq7K0wMigmK2hn6M%3D