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By Zach Thomas
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 4, 1996
The trial of a former UA student accused of sexual assault was postponed yesterday after his attorney petitioned the court for a delay.The postponement follows a plea agreement which would reduce the charges facing the defendant, Peter Hart Pisciotta, from sexual assault to aggravated assault, a class 6 felony with a lesser penalty, in exchange for a guilty plea on the latter charge.
"(Yesterday) was supposed to be the hearing on the change of plea," said Stephen M. Weiss, Pisciotta's attorney. "I felt that I needed some additional time to reflect on some things that recently transpired."
Weiss would not elaborate on his comment.
Pisciotta, 23, of the 7300 block of North Moon Spirit Lane, pleaded not guilty in February 1995 to charges he sexually assaulted a 20-year-old female student at a 1994 Halloween party in the former Delta Chi fraternity house, 1701 E. First St.
Detective Sgt. Sal Celi of the University of Arizona Police Department said that during questioning after the alleged assault, Pisciotta admitted to having sexual intercourse with the alleged victim, but said it was consensual.
The victim, however, told police it was not consensual, and "the evidence we gathered from the scene indicated that (the victim) was incapacitated by alcohol consumption," Celi said.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Nichols later remanded the initial case to a grand jury due to questions surrounding statements made by the victim to another fraternity member the night of the incident. But because of the impending plea agreement, a jury never reheard the case.
Kathleen Mayer, the prosecutor of the case, did not return the Wildcat's calls.
The next hearing in the case, a change of plea and arraignment, is set for Oct. 2.
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