After facing criminal charges under Michigan's anti-hazing law, Ethan Cao's lawyers argue the charges are unconstitutional, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.
Cao was charged with one felony hazing count resulting in death and three misdemeanors counts resulting in physical injury alongside Pi Alpha Phi member Andrew Nguyen for the death of MSU business student Phat Nguyen at a pledging event in 2021. Charges against a third defendant, John Pham, were dropped in 2022.
Andrew Nguyen and Phat Nguyen are not related.
On Nov. 19, 2021, four pledges—including Phat Nguyen—attended a welcome party in the basement of the Pi Alpha Phi fraternity house. The goal of the evening was to get the pledges drunk enough so that they would blackout or "die" and be reborn as brothers of the fraternity. At 1:58 a.m. on Nov. 20, police were called to the house. Nguyen was announced dead at the scene while the others were transported to Sparrow Hospital.
Witnesses told The State News that at least three of the pledges had been unconscious and stripped to their shorts with profane writing on their backs.
An autopsy report later confirmed Nguyen's cause of death as alcohol intoxication.
“It was hazing,” a witness said. “He was hazed to death and that is the truth.”
Pi Alpha Phi has since been disbanded on MSU's campus for a minimum of 10 years. In 2024, seven additional individuals received the same charges.
Cao's attorney Edwar A. Zeineh argues that the anti-hazing law, also known as Garrett's Law, used to prosecute Cao and others involved in the case was being used unconstitutionally.
The law defines hazing as "an intentional, knowing, or reckless act by a person acting alone or acting with others that is directed against an individual and that the person knew or should have known endangers the physical health or safety of the individual, and that is done for the purpose of pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, participating in, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization."
In the case of Nguyen, it was the first time the law's most serious charge had been used in prosecution since its passing in 2004. A felony hazing count can result in up to 15 years of imprisonment.
Zeineh had previously been ruled against by District Court Judge Molly Greenwalt, which moved Cao's case to the Ingham County Circuit Court. Zeineh then filed for an appeal, appearing before the Court of Appeals on Aug. 6.
Zeineh presented multiple oral arguments defending his client, claiming that the hazing charge was based on insufficient evidence.
“We believe there is insufficient evidence on multiple grounds related to the elements of the offense," Zeineh said. "We argued the sufficiency of the evidence as presented at the preliminary examination."
Since Garrett's Law was used for the first time in the case of Nguyen, Zeineh believes that there were several grounds in which the constitutionality of the law was attacked, namely due to confusion.
“For one, I don’t think anybody knew specifically what the statute means because this is the first time it’s been going to be interpreted by court," Zeineh said.
The "first impression" left by the case poses a "challenge," as it influences how the court defines and interprets the elements of hazing, Zeineh said. The appeal will affect whether or not the prosecutor’s office continues to charge others as involved in Nguyen's death, and going forward, how they prosecute hazing charges should another incident arise on campus.
"Regardless of the outcome, it will set out a clearer standard," Zeineh said.
Attorney Douglas Fierberg, who represented Nguyen's family in a lawsuit filed in June of 2023, said that the appeal is "understandable," but not "credible."
"This is just an effort to say or do anything to try to evade responsibility for the harmful conduct that resulted in the death of our client," Fierberg said. "This, by no means, would provide closure or has anything to do with Phat's family. Conversely, it only furthers the delay in their pursuit for justice against all those who wrongly took the life of their beloved family member."
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Fierberg also disagrees with claims that there was a lack of evidence presented.
"There are very few cases that have ever had this level of documentation of wrongdoing and the inability and refusal to prevent the taking of another's life," Fierberg said.
The hazing process is "terrible" and has resulted in "countless deaths" for those pledging fraternities, Fierberg said. Nguyen's family remains committed to holding the individuals associated with their son's death responsible.
MSU spokesperson Amber McCann declined to comment on the ongoing litigation but directed inquiries to the university’s official hazing policy website, which states that hazing is strictly prohibited and cites Garrett’s Law.
The Court of Appeals will review the arguments and case files to determine the constitutionality of the law, but it has not been decided whether it will be a published or unpublished opinion. If published, the case will be referenced in future cases, allowing it to have more precedent.
The court has yet to reach a decision.
