Prosecutor: Fmr. FAMU Band Member Organized Hazing Which Killed Champion

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ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — During opening statements Tuesday  in the Florida A&M University hazing trial, prosecutors said a former band member was the main organizer of the brutal hazing which killed another member.

During the trial of 27-year-old Dante Martin, state attorney Jeff Ashton called the ritual that eventually killed Robert Champion in 2011 a "dark tradition" inside FAMU's band that Martin was in charge of the night Champion died.

But defense attorney Dino Michaels told jurors that band members would testify that the ritual was more akin to a competition and not actually hazing.

A jury of four women and two men were selected to hear the case, which is expected to last a week.

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