BELLEFONTE, Pa.—A new judge will preside over the preliminary hearing Wednesday for two Penn State football players facing refiled felony assault charges in connection with a campus fight.
Centre County President Judge David Grine on Tuesday granted prosecutors' request for a new judge to hear the case against defensive tackle Chris Baker and linebacker Navorro Bowman, Grine's office said.
In a hearing Monday before Grine, Assistant District Attorney Steve Sloane argued that District Judge Carmine Prestia had erred during the initial preliminary hearing Dec. 5 before dismissing the felony assault charges against the players.
Prestia did order Baker and Bowman to stand trial this spring on misdemeanor charges after police said the pair beat up a man during a fraternity party at the campus student union.
Prosecutors refiled the felony assault charges late last month.
Baker, 20, of Windsor, Conn., and Bowman, 19, of District Heights, Md., were suspended the last two games of the season because of their legal trouble.
