Attorney reveals what happened after freshman was left blind and unable to speak or walk after hazing incident
The attorney representing Danny Santulli's family has spoken out about what happened during a hazing incident at a fraternity event in 2021.
In late 2021, the then-19-year-old was left blind, unable to speak and wheelchair-bound after an incident occurred at the University of Missouri and his family's attorney has since reviewed footage taken on the night.
On the night of 19 October, 2021, the freshman was discovered inside a car experiencing a cardiac arrest and with alcohol poisoning - his blood alcohol level nearly six times the legal limit.
Danny survived the incident, but has been left unable to walk, talk and blind.
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The incident was a result of 'hazing' - an unofficial initiation ceremony which typically takes place in college fraternities and sororities, seeing people 'following wilful acts' or acts taking place 'without the consent of the individual involved', which result in the person physically injured, or 'knowingly and recklessly' put 'an unreasonable risk of physical harm or to severe mental or emotional harm'.
This event can be in the form of 'degradation, humiliation, or compromising of moral or religious values; forced consumption of any substance; placing an individual in physical danger, which includes abandonment; and undue interference with academic endeavors,' Garret's Law states as quoted by the University of Michigan - including the consumption of dangerous quantities of alcohol.
44 out of 50 states have anti-hazing laws in place according to StopHazing, however, STF B&C Law notes 'only 10 states have laws that explicitly make hazing a felony when it results in death or serious injury'.
And Danny's family's attorney, David Bianchi, has since weighed in on the surveillance footage captured from the frat house - called Phi Gamma Delta, but also known as 'Fiji' - that night.
Bianchi told KARE 11 all the 'fraternity pledges' - who are freshmen hoping to join the fraternity house - are put through certain activities to see if they'll make the cut.
One video shows multiple freshmen topless and in a line with their hands on each others shoulders, snaking down the stairs.
The attorney then comments on another video, which shows the 'pledge dads' standing in front of each of the pledges.
"And Danny Santulli's pledge dad was Ryan Delanty. And pursuing to the tradition, the pledge dad then hands the family bottle of alcohol to his pledge," he claimed.
Bianchi also said to Good Morning America: "We see one of the fraternity members putting a tube in Danny's mouth with a funnel at the other end and pouring beer down his throat while Danny is in the middle of consuming an entire bottle of vodka. That's on the video.
"They were given their family bottle of alcohol and then they drank from it and they took them upstairs and for the next two hours, they drank and drink and drink."
On Friday (May 10), Delanty pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour of supplying liquor to a minor and a misdemeanour count of hazing.
Prosecutors will reportedly recommend a six-month jail sentence followed by six months of house arrest and sentencing is currently set to take place on May 24.
However, Bianchi says that to him it 'doesn't seem like enough' of a penalty given that Danny 'will never walk again' or 'talk again' and will require '24-hour care for the rest of his life'.
UNILAD has contacted the University of Missouri and Ryan Delanty's lawyers for comment.
Poppy Bilderbeck