Update: The district attorney says she will refile some of the charges

BELLEFONTE--A judge on Friday dismissed the bulk of the most serious criminal charges filed against 18 Penn State fraternity brothers in a hazing death investigation, dramatically scaling back the case.

All eight individuals charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault saw those charges dropped.

Four others who were charged with single counts were dropped from the case altogether, but the rest must stand trial in connection with the remaining charges in connection with the death of Timothy Piazza.

The charges that remained against 12 defendants in court Friday include reckless endangerment, furnishing alcohol to minors and hazing. Two additional defendants waived their right to a hearing this spring so their cases automatically rolled forward.

The ruling represented a big setback to the district attorney's office aggressive stance on Piazza's death.

Magisterial District Judge Allen Sinclair's ruling in the case closed out a marathon preliminary hearing that spanned eight days over three months.

A preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania is designed only to determine if the prosecutor has presented enough evidence to support each of the elements of the offense charged.

Piazza, a 19-year-old student from Lebanon, N.J., died Feb. 4 of complications from injuries suffered during and after a Feb. 2 bid acceptance party at his hoped-for fraternity on the heart of Penn State's University Park campus.

No one in his new brotherhood sought medical attention for him until after 10 a.m. the next morning, a delay that doctors have said likely contributed to Piazza's death.

A trial is expected next year, in part because of the flood of pre-trial issues anticipated in a case involving so many defendants, and the sheer logistics of synching up all the different attorneys' schedules.

Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller put her evidence before a grand jury that returned a recommendation in May of more than 1,000 criminal counts against 18 students. Charges also were recommended against the housing corporation that owns the house.

The defendants who waived their right to a preliminary hearing were Ryan Foster and Ed Gilmartin.

Check back with PennLive for more details on the specific charges that were dropped and the rest that will be heading to trial.