TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ― A judge delayed the trial Wednesday for five one-time University of Alabama fraternity members charged with hazing new members who allegedly were forced to stand in ice water until they had frostbite.
District Judge Joel R. Chandler’s office announced the postponement hours before the trial was set to begin. He previously said the case would go ahead as planned, but some defendants sought a delay.
The case was tentatively rescheduled for March 1, the judge’s office said.
The five are fighting the charges, court documents indicate, but they were expelled from Phi Gamma Delta, which has a policy prohibiting hazing.
The defendants include Richard Eugene Markwalter II, Hunter Lee Wagner and Mark Allen Powers II, all 20 and from Huntsville; John Patrick Buckley, 21, of Houston; and Colter K. Anderson, 22, of Dallas.
Markwalter, Wagner, Buckley and Anderson were each charged with three counts of hazing, a misdemeanor under Alabama law. Powers was charged with one count of hazing, and Wagner also was charged with marijuana possession.
Each hazing count carries a maximum penalty of $500.
