A state judge in Texas has set aside his own ruling that had ordered a University of Texas at Austin fraternity chapter and its national parent organization to pay $16.2-million to the parents of a freshman pledge who died in a drinking-related fall, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The judge, John Dietz, issued the default judgment in October after the fraternity failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by the student’s parents in September. But the fraternity chapter and organization were allowed to seek a new trial if they could explain why they had not responded to the suit, the Austin newspaper reported.

A lawyer for the fraternity groups said in a news release last week that the court had accepted their explanation and that a trial would now proceed as if the default judgment had not been entered.

The lawsuit concerns the death of Tyler Cross, who died in 2006 after falling from a fifth-floor balcony at his off-campus apartment while drunk. Investigators said his death followed a night of hazing by members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. —Charles Huckabee