When Salvador Peter Serrano was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center early on Oct. 26, 2003, Brian Newcomb, the attending emergency room physician, said he did all in his power to save Serrano's life.

"Because of his age, I wanted to pull all heroics that I could," Newcomb said.

Newcomb testified yesterday in the Centre County Courthouse during the first day of prosecution in the trial of Christopher and Jason Rosengrant, who are being tried in connection with the death of Serrano, a former Penn State student.

Newcomb told the court that when Serrano arrived at the hospital, he had no pulse, no blood pressure and was not breathing.

Serrano was given epinephrine -- a type of adrenaline -- and other cardiac drugs along with a jolt of electricity to try and jumpstart his heart, Newcomb said.

But nothing worked. At 1:51 a.m., Serrano was pronounced dead.

During Newcomb's testimony, Grace Jimenez, Serrano's mother, sat quietly crying as Newcomb recounted her son's last moments. "It's just been very hard," she said later during the day.

Serrano died Oct. 26, 2003, after an altercation with the Rosengrants outside the All American Rathskeller, 108 S. Pugh St., where they were employed at the time.

Serrano, his fiancee Brooke Morgan and two friends were walking down Calder Way behind the bar when one friend, Timothy Padalino, stopped in the Rathskeller's parking lot to urinate.

According to court documents, Rathskeller employees saw Padalino urinating and asked the group to leave and an argument began. Court documents state that Serrano was pushed to the ground by Christopher Rosengrant and then restrained by Jason Rosengrant.

At some point during the altercation, Serrano began to vomit and choked, becoming unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead at Mount Nittany Medical Center.

In his opening statements yesterday, District Attorney Ray Gricar said the Rosengrants are facing involuntary manslaughter instead of murder charges because the two men did not intend to kill Serrano but instead acted in a reckless manner that contributed to his death.

Robert Munley, Christopher Rosengrant's attorney, told the jury that bad things happen on weekends in State College and will continue to happen because of alcohol incidents.

"This case is about students, alcohol and alcohol abuse," he said.

Munley told jurors it was OK to be angry at first, but asked them to set their emotions aside and listen closely to the witnesses.

He then briefly explained the altercation to the jury, including details Gricar did not mention, such as Bresnahan and Morgan's alleged involvement in the altercation by hitting Jason Rosengrant and another Rathskeller employee.

Karen Muir, Jason Rosengrant's attorney, focused on her client's knowledge of the situation while the altercation was taking place.

"Jason was not aware that Peter [Serrano] drank so much that he had a 0.24 [blood alcohol level] ... he was not aware that Tim [Padalino] likes to fight whether he's drunk or not," she said.

Muir said Jason Rosengrant only knew his brother needed help with an altercation.

She ended her remarks by referring to Gricar's statement that Jason Rosengrant was unaware Serrano was vomiting.

"And that is why he died," she said.

Gordon Handte, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Serrano, spent much of his two-hour testimony discussing the vomit blocking Serrano's airways.

Handte said he noticed abnormal amounts of mucus and reddening on Serrano's windpipe, where there also appeared to be vomit, which ultimately entered Serrano's lungs.

"It should not be that far down," Handte said.

Handte maintained throughout his testimony that Serrano's alcohol consumption was the main factor in Serrano's death.

Serrano's .24 blood alcohol content made it difficult for him to clear the vomit from his lungs and prevent suffocation, he added.

In collecting evidence from the examination, Handte ruled Serrano's death an accident.

"I do not believe this was intentional," Handte said. "I do not believe this was a homicide."