Centre County President Judge Pamela Ruest granted a request from the prosecution to push back any potential trial date in the Beta Theta Pi case involving the death of Tim Piazza until April.

Originally scheduled for December, an order signed this week moves the trial of 14 former brothers and the Alpha Upsilon chapter from February to the spring as a new prosecutor takes over the case.

Before the case reaches trial, preliminary hearings for a yet-to-be-determined date will take place without the former Centre County District Attorney, Stacy Parks Miller, who has handled the case to this point.

She lost in her bid for reelection, and current DA Bernie Cantorna has passed the case on, due to a conflict of interest, to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has accepted the case, now conducting an independent review.

Parks Miller, who was the prosecutor during the summer hearings for 18 charged brothers prior to Judge Allen Sinclair’s dismissal of the most serious charges, attempted to move this second set of hearings along quicker after refiling the original charges and new video evidence emerged that brought on more charges.

Despite efforts from the former DA, Sinclair will again preside over the upcoming hearings after Ruest also denied a request for a new judge earlier this week.