'The Courtroom Is Silent': Reactions As Video Of Fatal Penn State Frat Party Is Played

The preliminary hearing for the Penn State fraternity brothers accused in the hazing death of a 19-year-old student has been continued to a to-be-decided upon date, according to reports. The judge on Monday evening granted the defense's request to continue the hearing, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The continuation comes after nearly 12 hours of testimony and hours of surveillance footage from the fraternity house on the night Timothy Piazza, a sophomore from New Jersey, fell during a bid acceptance night party.

PennLive.come reports State College Police Detective David Scicchitano was on the witness stand for nearly 10 hours during the hearing.

Reporters inside the Centre County Courthouse live tweeted the proceedings as the prosecution played the surveillance footage from the Beta Theta Pi fraternity party on Feb. 2, the night of Piazza's fatal injury.

The footage, by all accounts, is disturbing. Piazza's parents, Jim and Evelyn of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, left the courtroom before the prosecution began airing the footage, narrated by Scicchitano.

Eight fraternity brothers are facing manslaughter charges in connection with Piazza's death. Ten other students are facing related charges of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and providing alcohol to minors, among other charges.

Prosecutors allege Piazza was forced to drink excessively before falling and hurting himself. No one called for help until late the next morning, and the New Jersey native died Feb. 4.

According to several reporters live-tweeting the surveillance footage from that night and early morning, it was hard to watch.

Susan Snyder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer, was at the hearing. She issued several tweets about the surveillance tapes, calling the footage "grueling" to watch.

In another tweet, typed after those in the courtroom watched footage of Piazza roll in pain on the floor in the early hours of the morning after falling 15 feet, Snyder said: "The courtroom is silent."

PennLive.com reporter Christian Alexandersen was also at the hearing. He too live-tweeted.

"Not going to lie, this footage is pretty tough to watch," Alexandersen tweeted, around the same time Snyder reported the courtroom was silent.

According to reporters at the hearing, Scicchitano said the fraternity brothers were acting like "drill sergeants" and yelling at the pledges to drink. The footage, as outlined in the grand jury presentment, shows an inebriated Piazza fall down the stairs. He is then carried up, while unconscious, by a group of frat brothers who then proceed to "slam" him, slap him, pour water on him and even throw a shoe at him, according to accounts of the footage.

Scicchitano testified in court that Piazza "looked like a corpse" the morning after the fall.

Alexandersen said fraternity brothers were "intensely" watching the video of Piazza writhe in pain on the floor in the hours after his fall.

Gabe Gutierrez, an NBC News correspondent, said via Twitter that the courtroom was silent as prosecutors played video of Piazza dying. "It really is difficult to watch."

Reporters describe the tension between the fraternity brothers and the grieving parents:

According to the Inquirer report, Tim's father, Jim, "glared" at Joseph Ems Jr., who is accused of throwing a shoe at Piazza and slapping him in the abdomen. "Ems kept looking straight ahead," the report said.

The footage was collected by 12 cameras positioned throughout the house, the Inquirer reported.

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• Frat House Death At Penn State: A Who's Who Of The Accused