BELLEFONTE -- The Centre County prosecutor on Monday methodically detailed text messages and questioned a police detective on the stand in an effort to tie each of 18 Penn State fraternity brothers to crimes related to the death of Timothy Piazza earlier this year.

District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said the text messages showed the defendants knew they had hazed Piazza, 19, during alcohol-fueled pledge night activities and that they were concerned about the legal ramifications of his death.

Piazza, highly intoxicated at the time, suffered a series of catastrophic falls in the hours after the Feb. 2 party, and none of the brothers or guests present at the time summoned medical help for him until the following morning.

"I don't want to go to jail for this," one of the defendants, Daniel Casey, said to his girlfriend in a text message on the evening of Feb. 3, while Piazza lay dying in a hospital. "Hazing is a huge thing."

During the preliminary hearing Monday, by mid-morning Miller was still in the midst of presenting evidence to illustrate each defendant's role in Piazza's death, according to the prosecution.

The defendants, all Beta Theta Pi brothers, face charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter and furnishing alcohol to minors to evidence tampering for efforts prosecutors said were intended to wipe out incriminating details of the party.

Defense attorneys haven't been able to cross examine any witnesses or present arguments, but some attorneys tipped their hands through various objections.

An attorney for defendant Luke Visser objected to the prosecution's contention that Piazza fell down the basement stairs a second time, saying there was no proof.

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Miller admitted the evidence was circumstantial for the second fall but questioned how else Piazza got to the bottom of the stairs considering his highly intoxicated state.

The attorney, Ted Simon, also suggested Miller didn't play video surveillance clips for the judge that could show Piazza still with good cognitive function shortly after 7 a.m. on Feb. 3. If true, it could help bolster a defense that Piazza wasn't as notably injured or impaired at that time as the prosecution has claimed.

Simon said Piazza got up from the couch, walked to a patio door and closed the door and was able to avoid furniture at that time.

"He walked fine," Simon said, provoking outrage from Miller.

"He should be ashamed," Miller said of Simon. "He's lying to you. Shame on you for lying to the judge."

Simon chided Miller to settle the dispute by playing that portion of the video.

"If there's any doubt, we should play it right now," he said.

Miller retorted: "I don't need to play the tape to respond to your lie, sir."

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Two defense attorneys accused Miller of "cherry-picking" the text messages and video clips she presented to the judge, and Miller didn't shy away from the accusation. She said she was focusing on presenting the "most damning evidence," which she said the attorneys obviously didn't like because it hurt their cases.

Two attorneys argued that they were entitled to see all text messages reviewed by police, and Miller said they would have that opportunity through the discovery process to prepare for trial.

The defendants sat on folding chairs at a series of long plastic tables set up in the front of the courtroom to accommodate all of them and their attorneys.

Piazza's parents, Jim and Evelyn, sat in the front row of the gallery with their attorney. Jim Piazza rocked back and forth and shook his head at times during testimony.

Parents of many of the defendants filled many of the other benches in the courtroom. During breaks, they exchanged stories about how their sons were holding up in the face of the criminal charges.

The court took a recess at noon for lunch.