The charges against Braxton Becker and Joshua Kurczewski, stemming from the February 2017 death of fraternity pledge Timothy Piazza, were among 45 counts against 12 defendants dismissed by District Judge Steven Lachman.
The Office of the Attorney General said it will continue to push for this case to be heard by a higher court, but did not specify what its next move would be.
"Our son’s face, and the faces of other young men whose lives were lost to a similar fate, are recognizable — for all the wrong reasons. We need reform. What happened in 2017 must never happen again."
"The Piazzas are hopeful that the Attorney General will file an appeal so that all individuals will be held fully responsible for their misconduct and so that dangerous and potentially lethal hazing will be deterred in the future."
“We are in the process of reviewing the judge’s decision to determine next steps, and are pleased that 11 more defendants we charged will be headed to trial.”
This latest preliminary hearing was for 12 brothers charged following the recovery of basement footage during Beta Theta Pi's bid acceptance night.