Arraignment set for FAMU hazing death suspects

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A judge will formally read the charges against the 11 Florida A&M band members facing felony charges in the hazing death of a drum major.

They’re being arraigned Thursday in an Orlando courtroom, seven months after 26-year-old Robert Champion died following a hazing ritual aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel.

Most of the defendants have waived their arraignments and won’t appear in court.

Two defendants who haven’t hired attorneys may be assigned public defenders.

Champion died in November following what authorities have said was a hazing incident after FAMU’s football game in Orlando. His autopsy report listed his cause of death as a homicide as the result of repeated blows to his body.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press