BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Former LSU student Matthew Marsiglia didn’t appear in court on Tuesday for his manslaughter arraignment after his attorney filed a no-appearance motion. Through his attorney, he pleads not guilty.
Marsiglia was arrested last April after a March fight outside Fred’s in Tigerland, 26-year-old David Repath died three days after the fight.
According to an arrest affidavit we obtained in April, Repath was arguing with Marsiglia’s friends and punched one of them. A short time later, surveillance video showed Marsiglia arguing with Repath. Repath took a swing at Marsiglia but he dodged it. Marsiglina then shoved Repath causing him to strike his head on the pavement. The coroner ruled his death a homicide.
On Tuesday, Marsiglia’s attorney Steven Moore said his client was defending himself and would argue a self-defense case. He released this statement to us on Tuesday, “Let’s play this out,” said Moore. “Marsiglia was justified in defending himself.”
In April, we interviewed Baton Rouge defense attorney Ron Haley about the case and he agreed.