>> ACCEPTS FULL RESPONSIBILITY
FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THIS
TRAGIC EVENT.
THERE ARE TOO FEW WORDS TO
DESCRIBE THE LAW SO GREAT.
THIS YOUNG MAN UNDERSTANDS THAT
PURITY >> Martha: TONIGHT THE
FIRST ADMISSION OF GUILT IN THE
DEATH OF TIMOTHY PIAZZA.
THE PENN STATE STUDENT WHOSE
LIFE ENDED TRAGICALLY IN
FEBRUARY OF 2017 IN A FRATERNITY
HAZING INCIDENT GONE HORRIBLY
WRONG.
BRIAN BURKE, ONE OF TAM'S
SO-CALLED BROTHERS PLED GUILTY
TO NINE CHARGES IN PIAZZA'S
DEATH.
IT MORE THAN TWO DOZEN OTHERS
STILL FACE CHARGES AND HAVE NOT
STEPPED FORWARD TO DO WITH THIS
YOUNG MAN DID TODAY.
SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS BURKE
GIVING PIAZZA A HANDLE OF VODKA
TO DRINK, 1 OF 18 DRINKS THAT HE
CONSUMED IN 82 MINUTES.
HE LATER FELL DOWN A FLIGHT OF
STAIRS, HE BECAME UNCONSCIOUS
AND HE DIED WHEN NO ONE CALLED
911411 HOURS.
JOINING ME NOW EXCLUSIVELY IS
THOMAS KLEIN, THE ATTORNEY FOR
THE PIAZZA FAMILY.
WELCOME, GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH
US TONIGHT.
THIS IS THE FIRST INDIVIDUAL TO
STEP UP AND TAKE ANY FORM OF
RESPONSIBLY FOR WHAT HAPPENED,
RIGHT?
>> THAT'S CORRECT.
THIS IS THE FIRST INDIVIDUAL WHO
HAS STEPPED UP AND SAID THAT HE
IS RESPONSIBLE, HE HAS ACTUALLY
PLED GUILTY TO EIGHT COUNTS,
ACTUALLY NINE COUNTS.
>> Martha: THAT INCLUDES
HAZING, WHAT ELSE DID HE PLEAD
GUILTY TO, AND WHAT KIND OF
POTENTIAL PUNISHMENT WILL BE
ATTACHED?
>> SURE.
HE PLED GUILTY TO FOUR COUNTS OF
HAZING, FOUR COUNTS OF SERVING
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND ONE
COUNT OF CONSUMPTION.
HE ACTUALLY WAS UNDER THE AGE
HIMSELF.
HE WAS 20 YEARS OLD.
BUT HERE'S THE REALLY IMPORTANT
PART OF IT.
THIS TOOK PLACE, HIS CONDUCT
TOOK PLACE IN THE SO-CALLED
SOCIAL, WHICH WAS ACTUALLY AN
EXTENSION OF HAZING AND IT WAS
ACTUALLY CAUGHT ON THE BASEMENT
VIDEO, WHICH OF COURSE THERE WAS
AN ATTEMPT TO TRY TO CONCEAL IT.
WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY
ATTEMPTED TO TRY TO CONCEAL,
WHICH PROVED HIS GUILT AND HE
ADMITTED GUILT TO SOMETHING
WHICH IS BEING CONTESTED BY ALL
THE OTHER DEFENDANTS.
THE VERY IMPORTANT DAY PURITY
>> Martha: SO WHAT IS THE
IMPACT ON THE OTHER CASES?
>> WELL, WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT HIS
STEPS WILL BE FOLLOWED.
WE ARE VERY HOPEFUL, AND I SPOKE
WITH JIM PIAZZA JUST BEFORE I
CAME ON YOUR SHOW, WE ARE ALL
HOPEFUL THAT THERE WILL BE
OTHERS WHO WILL FOLLOW SUIT.
WE HOPE THAT THIS WILL INFORM
THESE BROTHERS THAT THEY SHOULD
COME FORWARD, THAT THEY SHOULD
ACCEPT THEIR COMPLICITY IN WHAT
WAS COLLECTIVELY A HORRIBLE
EVENT WHICH LED TO TIM PIAZZA'S
CATASTROPHIC INJURY AND THEN TO
HIS DEATH.
WE HOPE THAT THEY WILL COME
FORWARD.
MR. BURKE HAS DONE THE RIGHT
THING HERE.
>> Martha: THE SENTENCING WILL
BE JULY 31ST, AND THAT'S GOING
TO BE THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY THAT
THE PIAZZAS, WHO HAVE SPOKEN
HERE ON OUR SHOW MANY TIMES, AND
OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH THEM AS WE
GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, THEY
WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE -- WILL
THEY DO THAT?
>> THAT'S CORRECT.
JIM AND EVELYN PIAZZA, TIM
PIAZZA'S COURAGEOUS PARENTS,
CRUSADERS NOT ONLY ON BEHALF OF
JUSTICE FOR TIM, BUT ON BEHALF
OF HAZING AND ABUSE ON COLLEGE
CAMPUSES, THEY WILL BE HEARD NOW
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A VICTIM
IMPACT STATEMENT.
THAT ALSO WILL BE A BANNER AND A
VERY IMPORTANT DAY.
>> Martha: WHAT IS THE SORT OF
STRONGEST CHARGES THAT REMAIN
FOR THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE
FRATERNITY, AND DO YOU THINK
THAT ULTIMATELY ANYBODY WILL DO
TIME?
WHAT KIND OF PUNISHMENT DO YOU
THINK IS POSSIBLE HERE?
>> WELL, PUNISHMENT IS OF COURSE
AN IMPORTANT PART OF DETERRENCE
AND THERE ARE MANY INDIVIDUALS
FACING MANY YEARS IN JAIL.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL HAS BEEN
STEADFAST IN TRYING TO REINSTATE
THE CHARGES OF INVOLUNTARY
MANSLAUGHTER.
THERE CURRENTLY ARE CHARGES OF
RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT AS WELL AS
HAZING AGAINST MANY INDIVIDUALS.
MR. BURKE HIMSELF FACES EIGHT
COUNTS THAT EACH CARRY WITH IT
POTENTIALLY A YEAR IN JAIL.
AND OF COURSE YOU HAVE THAT
MULTIPLIED BY MANY INDIVIDUALS.
SO THERE ARE SERIOUS CHARGES
WITH SERIOUS POTENTIAL JAIL
TIME.
WE ARE HOPEFUL NOT THAT PEOPLE
GO TO JAIL FOR THE SAKE OF GOING
TO JAIL, BUT RATHER FOR THE SAKE
OF BEING A DETERRENT FROM THIS
HAPPENING IN THE FUTURE.
>> Martha: ABSOLUTELY, AND
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOUNG
MEN, AND WOMEN, THIS HAPPENS IN
SORORITIES TOO, ACROSS THE
COUNTRY NEED TO PAY ATTENTION
TO.
THEY SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT IT
IN THEIR MEETINGS ON CAMPUS
ABOUT THIS SO THAT IT DOESN'T
HAPPEN TO ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL
YOUNG WIFE LIKE TIM PIAZZA AND
HIS FAMILY.
>> I AGREE.
MARTHA, I MIGHT ADD THAT IN
PENNSYLVANIA WE ARE MOVING