Colorado Hazing Case Headed to Court

Judge Allows Hazing Death Trial to Proceed

The mother of a dead Chi Psi pledge at the University of Colorado is hoping to gain some reconciliation through a lawsuit.

Gordie Bailey died in September of 2004 from acute alcohol poisoning after a fraternity initiation. His mother filed the lawsuit last year, and a judge motioned to proceed this week with a trial.

The pledge's mother believes that Gordie and his fellow Chi Psi pledges were blindfolded and driven to a remote mountain area where they were hazed and forced to drink "dangerous quantities of alcohol," according to the Denver Post. After Gordie passed out, brothers reportedly wrote vulgar pictures and messages on his body.

A Colorado law states that "no social host who furnishes any alcohol beverage is civilly liable to any injured individual or his or her estate...due to the consumption of alcohol."

A judge decided to proceed, saying "The allegations here are that the deceased (Bailey) was blindfolded, taken into the woods, illegally hazed, and abandoned to die." "There is nothing in the allegations relating to entertainment, pleasant companionship, or hospitality. Therefore, assuming the allegations in the complaint to be true, the defendant was not a social host."

The court date for March 10, 2008 has been set in the civil lawsuit.