GUILTY PA - Karlie Hall, 18, murdered in her Millersville U dorm, 9 Feb 2015

A Lancaster County judge must decide whether key evidence in the homicide trial of Gregorio Orrostieta, the man accused of killing his girlfriend in a Millersville dorm room in February, was legally obtained and may be used against him at trial.

Judge Donald R. Totaro said he would make a determination prior to a pretrial hearing scheduled for Dec. 21. The case is currently slated for trial Jan. 6.

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The Lancaster County trial of a 20-year-old Kennett Square man accused in the Feb. 8 fatal beating of his former girlfriend, an 18-year-old Millersville University freshman in her dorm room, has been rescheduled to April.

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Monday marks one year since a Millersville University student was killed on campus and the school is hosting events all month to help raise awareness about dating violence.

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The trial of a 20-year-old Chester County man accused of killing a Millersville University freshman last year is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Wednesday.

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Both Gregorio Orrostieta and the body of his girlfriend, Karlie Hall, were covered in dried blood when police arrived at the room where the young woman died, according to testimony Thursday in Orrostieta’s murder trial...

Final testimony Thursday was offered by university police Deputy Chief Howard Bauman, who described the scene in several videos that were shown to the jury.

In one video, Orrostieta and Hall are seen entering Bard at around 1:30 a.m. on the night of her death. Hall is walking a few paces ahead of Orrostieta.

In the second, they are shown running down the hall to Hall’s room, again with Hall in the lead. Later clips showed residents of the wing gathering close to Hall’s room and eventually summoning the resident assistant, who knocked on Hall’s door.

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Kristen Hall said that she did not like hanging around her sister and Orrostieta much... “I told her she should consider breaking up with him,” the sister testified, holding back tears. “I thought he was controlling. I didn't like the way the relationship looked”...

During Thanksgiving break on Nov. 28, 2014, Hall and Orrostieta had the following Facebook conversation that was read to the jury...

Orrostieta: Do you not like me?
Hall: You can't just hit me like you did yesterday and expect it to be OK.
Orrostieta: Do you still like me — yes or no?
Hall: I don't know. OK bye.

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Karlie Hall was fighting for her life, clawing at her boyfriend’s chest and tearing at his hair before she died, the Millersville University police chief said during testimony Thursday.

“My observations of the scene were as bad as any domestic (violence) I had seen,” Chief Peter Anders testified.

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Susan Ellison, rested its case Thursday against Gregorio Orrostieta, 20, of Kennett Square.

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A jury got a second long look at Karlie Hall’s autopsy photos Friday, as a forensic pathologist for the defense continued to pick apart a Lancaster County pathologist’s testimony.

The defense for 20-year-old Gregorio Orrostieta, who is accused of beating and strangling 18-year-old Hall to death in her Millersville University dorm room on Feb. 8, 2015, rested its case Friday afternoon after hearing from two material witnesses.

The trial will resume Monday morning with rebuttal testimony and closing arguments before being turned to the jury for deliberations.

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A Lancaster County jury convicted Gregorio Orrostieta of third-degree murder today in the Feb. 8, 2015, strangulation of his former girlfriend, Karlie A. Hall, a freshman at Millerville University...

Third-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison...

Judge Donald W. Totaro said sentencing will be scheduled in 90 days.

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Gregorio Orrostieta was sentenced Wednesday to 20 to 40 years in prison — the maximum sentence — for killing Millersville University freshman Karlie Hall in 2015.

It was an emotional morning in court as members of Hall’s family described the impact her murder has had on them.

“She must have known he was killing her,” Hall’s mother, Jeanette Hall, said through tears. “I wonder at what point she stopped feeling pain. I wonder if she called out for me. I wish I could have been there to help her.”

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In asking for the maximum sentence, Ellison told Judge Donald Totaro that “Karlie Hall’s murder was vicious and brutal, and continuing to blame her for her own death is reprehensible.”

Blaming the victim is also dangerous, she said — a sign that Orrostieta cannot be rehabilitated.

“This was not an accidental death,” Ellison said. “This was not something that just happened.”

Besides brief responses to the judge, Orrostieta — dressed in a dark gray, pinstriped suit — made only one terse statement before sentencing.

“I’m sorry. That’s all,” he said, eyes downcast toward the podium.

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Family members of Karlie Hall have filed a civil suit against Millersville University and Acacia fraternity for negligence in her death at the hands of her boyfriend, Gregorio Orrostieta.

John and Jeannette Hall filed the suit on behalf of their daughter's estate through the Laffley, Bucci, and Kent law firm in Philadelphia. Attorneys argue that the university exhibited deliberate indifference and also violated Hall's 14th Amendment Rights. A wrongful death charge is also a component of the suit.

Attorney Brian Kent said the legal filing seeks to hold the university and its employees responsible for their respective actions in not preventing Orrostieta from coming on to the campus. Additionally, the university failed to follow Title IX for preventing the acts of sexual violence perpetrated by Orrostieta, noting that the physical violence in the couple's relationship constitutes a violation of federal statues.

Kent said Acacia fraternity should be held responsible for giving Hall and Orrostieta alcohol at a party on the 300 block of North George Street hours before the killing. The fraternity should also be held accountable for observing a physical altercation between the couple and not stepping in, Kent said.

Also named in the suit are Sara Wiberg, a resident assistant at Bard Hall; Colin Herbine, Jack Milito, Nicholas Hench, Sean Ebert, Nigale Quiles and five other fraternity members identified as John Does. They are being sued for negligence as individuals and as a part of the university and their fraternity.

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The state court order won't free Gregorio Orrostieta or even reduce the 20- to 40-year prison term he is serving for the February 2014 slaying of 19-year-old Karlie Hall in her dorm room.

Instead, the Superior Court opinion by Senior Judge Lillian Harris Ransom sends the case back to Lancaster County Court because the sentencing judge didn't follow requirements when he ordered Orrostieta to pay restitution.

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Also in the appeal, Orrostieta’s counsel asked if the court erred in excluding defense testimony from a toxicologist, who would have testified on the correlation of intoxication and violence, alcohol-induced amnesia, the effects of alcohol on perception, and the effects of combining alcohol and caffeine.

Ransom said the trial court “did not abuse its discretion” because the testimony would have “strayed into matters of common knowledge.”

Appeals on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct and bias in the judge’s instructions to the jury were similarly dismissed by the Superior Court judge.

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