EAST LANSING, MI – The state Court of Appeals has upheld a hazing charge in the death of a Michigan State University student.

It was the first appeal of “Garret’s Law” which criminalizes hazing.

Ethan Cao, described as a “pledge master,” challenged the constitutionality of the hazing law as well as the evidence that an Ingham County judge considered in ordering Cao to stand trial.

Phat Nguyen, 21, a fraternity pledge, died in 2021 of alcohol intoxication.

“It has been two decades since the Legislature enacted Garret’s law … but it has not received appellate scrutiny until now,” appeals judges Matthew Ackerman, Kirsten Frank Kelly and Philip Mariani wrote.

“We join the consensus of other states in upholding the constitutionality of anti-hazing legislation, both facially and as-applied,

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