The State Superior Court has issued a ruling in the Indiana County District Attorney’s appeal of Judge William Martin’s dismissal of charges against Brady DiStefano, a former IUP student who was accused of killing a fraternity brother in February of last year. The court has found the dismissal of criminal homicide was proper, but that a charge of aggravated assault should be reinstated.
DiStefano, who is from Johnstown, was 19 years old at the time of the incident and the victim, Caleb Zweig of Rockville, Maryland, was 20. The two were walking with a friend, Trevor King, when DiStefano and Zweig started arguing. King told police that he was walking in front of them when he heard them scuffling, turned around, and saw Distefano on top of Zweig on the sidewalk. He pulled DiStefano off the unconscious Zweig and sat him up. He said Zweig was not conscious but was breathing. An ambulance was called but Zweig died early the next morning at the Indiana Regional Medical Center.
In its ruling, the appeals court found that Judge Martin was correct in finding that the D.A. had not offered evidence that DiStefano had caused Zweig’s death. It ruled that the autopsy finding of asphyxiation due to strangulation was based on the absence of any other possible cause in an otherwise healthy young man, and that King had only seen DiStefano’s hands in the chest and neck area, but had not actually seen him choking Zweig.
In reinstating the aggravated assault charge, the court found that it could be reasonably inferred that DiStefano knocked Zweig down and “pounced” on him, continuing the altercation until King pulled him off.
With the case for aggravated assault now reinstated, the appeals court remanded it back to Indiana County Court for adjudication.
