[Banfield:] Did members of a Penn State fraternity deliberately erase a videotape that just might be the key to solving the tragic death of one of its pledges? And if so, might that videotape have also been the key to the case against 18 members of that frat house who are now charged in Timothy Piazza`s hazing death? There was some pretty alarming evidence that was unleashed during some preliminary hearings today. And if you don`t know this story, it`s sickening. Timothy died two days after a liquor-fueled party in which he tumbled down two flights of stairs at the beta theta phi house. Investigators say the fraternity brothers failed to help him for upwards of 12 hours while he was dying. And they say it was instead that time they used to cover up the hazing and coordinate a story. Eighteen members of that university fraternity were arrested on charges ranging from tampering with evidence all the way to involuntary manslaughter. And the thing is, their actions were actually recorded. The fraternity has video surveillance cameras, and the prosecutors played them during the preliminary hearings. But not the one from the basement. That`s weird. It seems the authorities were told that that camera wasn`t working, that is until the authorities were un-told that story. CNN`s Sara Ganim describes what she saw in some of those videos.
[Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] You see the pledges, including Tim Piazza, lined up in khaki pants and button-down shirts. And they`re standing hand to shoulder in a line. In this ritual, the point is almost like an obstacle course, an alcohol obstacle course. He starts by chugging a handle of vodka. Then he goes to the next station and chugs a beer, and then to the next station, where he chugs wine. And about an hour-and-a-half after this gauntlet begins, a brother walks Tim Piazza through the lobby of the house, and you can already see that he is staggering.
[Banfield:] But that`s not all. Today, this other shocker, the lead detective in the case revealing it appears that one of the frat members who`s been charged actually admitted to deleting key parts of the video from the basement. And the basement is where Timothy fell and suffered for hours. CNN correspondent Sara Ganim has been in court all week, and she saw the surveillance video when it was played yesterday. So this is an astounding development. If it`s true that one of the kids who was actually sitting in court today deleted that basement video, do they have the information from this young man as to what was on it?
[Ganim:] Well, I don`t think prosecutors are quite there yet. What prosecutors said today in court is that they no longer believe that the camera wasn`t working. They believe that the video from that basement camera may have been deleted.
[Banfield:] And that`s the story they originally got, that camera in the basement wasn`t working. Sorry, there`s no video.
[Ganim:] Originally, when the police went to go get the video, days after Tim Piazza`s death, all they could retrieve was the video from the first floor. They couldn`t get the video off the system from the basement. But what they said in the original hearing, the first day of the hearing, which was several weeks ago they said they couldn`t retrieve the basement video because it wasn`t working. Today, the prosecutor said it appears it had been deleted. That is now their working theory. And she said that charges are imminent because of that, but would not say who may be charged, and nothing formally has been filed.
[Banfield:] So let my bring in Mark Rasch because he`s a digital forensics expert. He`s also former Department of Justice cyber crimes prosecutor. He joins me now live from Washington. Mark, you`re the perfect person to ask the two critical questions here. Number one, I hear of stuff that`s deleted all the time, but people like you can recover it. Can they do that? And number two, if they do, what kind of charges might these young men and the actual frat itself face if they actually did delete it?
[Mark Rasch, Digital Forensics Expert:] So as to the first question, whether or not they can restore what might have been on the videotape or on the recording, the answer is, of course, it depends. It depends on the technology that was used to record it and the method that was used to erase, delete or get rid of it. Obviously, if somebody took a physical videotape and burned it or destroyed it, then you`re not going to be able to recover it. Most modern recording machines record either to a hard drive or what`s called a solid state drive. And on those kinds of things, when you delete it, it`s just like deleting e-mail. There`s always a potential to be able to recover that data. And since they took custody the police took custody of the house and any recordings that might have been in it within a couple of days, the odds are that it wasn`t overwritten, like, you know, you have a continuous loop. So there`s I`d say about maybe a 20 percent chance if they can find the medium that they`ll be able to restore the data.
[Banfield:] You`re saying a 20 percent chance that we will actually end up getting that video into this case.
[Rasch:] If they were able if they were if the people took the hard drive out and threw it away, then unless they tell them where that hard drive is, they`re never going to get the tape. But if they can get...
[Banfield:] Well, the guy Mark, the guy who was sitting in court, the detective, from the stand, said, I`m not going to, you know, say who it is, but he`s in this courtroom right now. Apparently, he`s squealing like a canary because he told them he did it. So you would assume that he would have told them how he did it or where he put it, right?
[Rasch:] Well, if he knows. If he threw it in the trash bin and it`s gone, it`s gone. So it won`t be able to be recovered. But if they can actually physically get that drive, the odds are pretty good that they`ll be able to recover some maybe not all, but some of the information on that tape. Now, as to the charges that can be charged, there`s a lot of things could go on here. I mean, the first problem is somebody lied to the police. Somebody told them, Oh, there was no tape. It was destroyed. And it`s probably the person who destroyed it, and maybe others. So you have false statements to the police, which is one charge. Then you have obstruction of justice, which is another charge. Third is evidence tampering, which is another charge. And then there are charges related to whatever you can see on the video, if they can get it back, which are potentially manslaughter charges, reckless endangerment charges, and maybe even murder.
[Banfield:] Well, you know what? You nailed it because they`re definitely charged with all of those things. Manslaughter, though, involuntary manslaughter is the highest charge which carries with it about five years. Let me bring in Joey Jackson on this one, too, HLN and CNN legal analyst on this because, Joey, if what Mark is saying is that they can get these guys and there`s a lot of ifs here.
[Joey Jackson, Cnn/hln Legal Analyst:] Of course.
[Banfield:] If they can get the hard drive, if, if, if, if, if. Obstruction and lying are not small change.
[Jackson:] No, they`re not at all. And you know, it`s interesting because this speaks to the broader narrative, obviously, of fraternities in general, the culture of fraternities. And here you`re setting an example and you`re going after them. And what else is interesting is whenever a prosecutor starts on one path, you always know when the investigation broadens and they uncover other things, like here, initially believing that this tape was unavailable, now believing that it`s deleted. But whenever you do something like that, you get to the issues of tampering with evidence which is criminal because it impedes and otherwise prevents investigators to do their job. And so I think there`s a long way to go. Of course, we`re in a preliminary hearing, and we should remind viewers, of course, Ashleigh, that preliminary hearing is not to determine guilt or innocence
[Ashleigh Banfield, Primetime Justice Show:] Yes.
[Jackson:] but just whether there is enough evidence to move forward, and therefore you don`t have to prove anything beyond reasonable doubt.
[Banfield:] Let`s call no brainer in this one if you look at the stuff just we have.
[Jackson:] Absolutely.
[Banfield:] Sara, you interviewed Jim and Evelyn Piazza. That`s Timothy`s mom and dad. Jim said something that was, you know, first of all, as any parent who sends their kid off to college, and you hear that kids were stepping over your son as he was passed out for hour after hour after hour, and going and getting a glass of water, having a drink, taking a look at him and keep on going, you hear those, and you want to be sick. How they kept their composure during this interview, I don`t know, but I do want to play a little snippet of what Jim said to you regarding what he thinks about the culture and the folks in that house. Have a look.
[Jim Piazza, Father Of Timothy Piazza:] There were people in that house that knew he was dying. And when they knew that death was imminent the next morning, they waited 42 minutes to call for help while they told people to clean up, cover up the evidence, get rid of it. This wasn`t boys being boys. This was criminal activity. This was an alcohol-free, hazing-free fraternity with an adult, athletic trainer living in the house. But there were years of parties documented on the tapes. Nobody paid attention to anything. I blame all of them.
[Banfield:] That will be, you know, for the court to determine ultimately. But more importantly, how are they?
[Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] You know, obviously, they`re struggling. This is not something that`s been easy for them, but they have made a point to be in the courtroom for each of the days of this preliminary hearing, even though it`s been strung out over several weeks. This was day four. Tomorrow is day five. They`ve been there every day, but I will tell you, they never want to see the surveillance tape ever. They made that point. They are very clear. That`s why prosecutors haven`t entered into it into public record. That`s why we haven`t seen it publicly, why it hasn`t been released to the public. They leave the courtroom when it plays. They never want to see it because, Ashleigh, I`ve seen it. What you`re watching is Tim Piazza dying. You`re watching him overnight struggling as his body shuts down.
[Banfield:] You know this feeling, how you just have no control over them there.
[Jackson:] It`s amazing, and that`s how it hits you. You know, it`s hit obviously. You know, I`m here to talk about it from a legal perspective. But from a person perspective and not only that, but to hear them talk about these frat parties, which is why when you asked me the legal question, we`ll talk about Penn, but it speaks to the larger narrative of colleges all over the country and what this prosecution may do to deter others from engaging in behavior like that.
[Banfield:] Talk. Talk to your kids.
[Jackson:] Yes.
[Banfield:] Please talk to your kids about this story. Sara, you have done great reporting on it. You`ve done so much great reporting on it. It`s just so critical for young people to know how quickly their lives can go south and how quickly someone can lose a life. It is critical. Thank you not only to Sara and Joey, but also to Mark Rash for his perspective on this as well. Another story we`re covering. If you know Taylor Swift`s music, you know that she is not afraid to call out people who do her wrong. So it certainly comes as no surprise that she didn`t hold back anything when she got on the stand today and described in pretty stark terms the groping she alleges by a Denver DJ.