BELLEFONTE--A magisterial district judge on Wednesday again dismissed charges of involuntary manslaughter against a group of former Penn State fraternity brothers in connection with the death of Timothy Piazza last year.

Judge Allen Sinclair also dismissed refiled charges of recklessly endangering another person, however, he agreed to allow two new charges of conspiracy to commit hazing to go forward against house leaders and a handful of new alcohol violations against three defendants based on new basement footage.

In short, Sinclair doubled-down on his decision last year to severely limit the criminal charges against the fraternity brothers.

Last year, however, Sinclair allowed counts of recklessly endangering and hazing charges to go forward against many of the defendants. His ruling today concerned only the refiled charges that prosecutors wanted to bring that would have vastly expanded the number of charges and potential jail sentences.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter represented the most serious charge that Sinclair was considering, a first-degree misdemeanor, that could have carried up to five years in prison.

Recklessly endangering is a second-degree misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of up to two years. Hazing and furnishing alcohol are third-degree misdemeanors with possible sentences of up to one year.

Sinclair announced his decision through the court administrator's office Wednesday, after hearing three days of testimony and arguments that ended at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Much of the information presented in court since Friday had been heard during last year's preliminary hearings against the same defendants.

Defense attorneys seized upon that to argue there was no reason for Sinclair to reverse his decision last year, when he concluded there was not enough evidence for involuntary manslaughter and a series of other criminal charges.

Prosecutors, however, argued that they brought important new evidence and a new legal theory to the table this year.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Zarallo played newly recovered basement video from inside the Beta Theta Pi house the night Piazza was mortally wounded that showed fraternity brothers feeding alcohol to pledges.

Prosecutors also introduced several new video clips from upstairs, some new text messages sent by the defendants and Piazza's last known communication: a voicemail to his girlfriend in which he said he was probably "going to get f****d up" at his Beta bid acceptance party "by them."

Zarallo cited previous Supreme Court cases that established that serving minors alcohol alone meets the standard for recklessness. He further argued that the culture in the house was one where brothers openly discussed hazing, where brothers felt emboldened to march up to pledges and demand they drink on demand and where the whole point of the pledge party was to get the pledges as drunk as possible.

In fact, a pledge fell down and split open his head the prior semester during the same bid acceptance party, Zarallo said, which goes to foreseeability and direct knowledge of the risks of their actions.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, introduced new text messages and police reports of their own that they believe bolstered their arguments that their clients did not realize the seriousness of Piazza's injuries. That's why they didn't call for help sooner, and why their behavior could not be considered reckless, the defense attorneys argued.

Some defense attorneys also called into question exactly when and how Piazza suffered his most serious head and spleen injuries, implying those injuries could have occurred outside of the main fall down the basement stairs.

Other defense attorneys sought to minimize their client's role and parse out individual actions that alone would not have affected the tragic outcome. They also argued that there was no "verbal agreement" among the brothers to support a conspiracy charge and that participation in the alcohol-chugging obstacle course was voluntary.

Prosecutors put on a more streamlined case this year and acknowledged that the case presented last year was lengthy and confusing.

They packaged their evidence in a new legal argument: that the fraternity brothers had a legal duty to call for medical help for Piazza after he was knocked unconscious because of their prior actions to ply him with alcohol.

If the brothers had a legal duty of care, Zarallo argued, then their actions not to help him established the necessary elements of an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Defense attorneys pushed back and said that only works if their clients knew Piazza's life and health were in danger, and they maintained their clients simply thought Piazza was drunk.

Last year, the former district attorney, Stacy Parks Miller, used a "chain-of-events" theory to try to tie her case together against 18 defendants, which included felony charges against eight of them.

She argued during eight days of preliminary hearings last summer that Piazza's death occurred because of the chain of events that started with "the gauntlet," the alcohol-fueled obstacle course his pledge class was made to run the night of Feb. 2, 2017.

Sinclair rejected Parks Miller's argument and gutted the case by dismissing the most serious charges that she had filed against eight fraternity brothers. She then refiled many of the charges and requested a new judge to hear the case, saying Sinclair made an "error of law."

President Judge Pamela Ruest allowed the refiled charges to be heard again, but rejected the request for a new judge and said there had been no error of law.

The attorney general's office took over the case this year and refiled involuntary manslaughter against five defendants and a new charge of conspiracy to commit hazing against the entire group of 11 defendants. They also refiled a series of other charges ranging from alcohol violations to recklessly endangering another person.

But the attorney general's office did not proceed with Parks Miller's refiled felonies of aggravated assault.

Prosecutors from the attorney general's office have not yet said how they plan to proceed with another batch of 14 former fraternity brothers who were charged by Parks Miller in November.

A preliminary hearing for them is expected in May, which will require prosecutors to make a decision before then on which criminal charges they want to pursue.

The defendants covered by Sinclair's decision today include:

Brendan Young, the former president of the fraternity who allegedly sent incriminating text messages after Piazza's death,

Daniel Casey, the former pledge master who allegedly helped plan the drinking gauntlet the pledges were put through the night Piazza was mortally injured.

Jonah Neuman, a fraternity brother who allegedly participated in an alcohol-chugging gauntlet for pledges and was singled out in a grand jury presentment for forcefully over-ruling another brother's suggestion that Piazza be taken to the hospital.

Gary Dibilieo, a Beta brother who allegedly ran one of the drinking stations in the gauntlet, and

Luke Visser, who allegedly ran a beer pong station during the pledge night activities, where all 14 pledges were required to drink.

Nick Kubera, another alleged participant in the alcohol-fueled gauntlet,

Michael Bonatucci, who served five pledges with alcohol during the gauntlet, but not Piazza, according to his defense attorney, and

Joseph Sala, who was the assistant pledge master. He allegedly helped plan the drinking games and held open the door for pledges.

Lars Kenyon, whose charges stem from text messages in which he and other brothers appear to be inventorying the alcohol needed for bid acceptance night.

Michael Angelo Schiavone, who served as the house's risk manager, As such, he collected and controlled the funds used to purchase the fraternity's alcohol and allegedly wrote up the list of necessary booze for the party.

Parker Jax Yochim, a rush committee member, who was charged largely because of a series of texts that prosecutors say puts him in the supply chain that got the alcohol.

Judge's order RE: Beta Theta Pi charges by Teresa Bonner on Scribd