COURT Jury finds brothers innocent in Penn State student's death

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- A jury found two bar employees innocent of charges they caused the death of a drunken Penn State student they had thrown to the ground and restrained during a scuffle.
Christopher Rosengrant, 31, of Boalsburg, and his brother Jason, 28, of State College, were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Salvador Peter Serrano, 21, on Oct. 26, 2003, outside the All American Rathskeller.
After only a few hours of deliberations Friday, the jury returned with the innocent verdicts, the Centre Daily Times reported on its Web site.
Serrano choked on his vomit after being thrown down and held during an altercation in the parking lot behind the tavern. Prosecutors said the force with which the brothers restrained Serrano caused his death.
In closing arguments earlier Friday, Karen Muir, Jason Rosengrant's lawyer, urged jurors to recall the testimony of pathologist Gordon Handte, who had testified Wednesday that Serrano wouldn't have died in the scuffle if he had not been drinking. Serrano had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for drivers, according to trial testimony.
"Alcohol started that evening and alcohol caused his death," Muir said. "It was Peter's own actions, combined with the actions of his drunk friends, that caused his death."
The fight began when one of Serrano's friends stopped to urinate in a lot behind the bar.
Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar told the jury in his closing argument that the brothers should not get off the hook because Serrano was intoxicated.
"There's a motto that you take your victims as you find them," he said.
, and compared the situation to one in which someone has a heart attack while being robbed.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.