The prosecution's case against 16-year-old Zachary Paul Witman of New Freedom, charged in the 1998 stabbing death of his younger brother, Gregory, got a big boost with an appellate court decision handed down this week.

Superior Court judges ruled Tuesday that 16 of the 22 pieces of evidence suppressed by President Judge John C. Uhler in his May 7 opinion can be used during the trial. The trial was put on hold for 10 months by the district attor ney's appeal of the trial court's decision.

The appellate court also reversed Uhler's decision on the 911 recording and transcript from the Oct. 2, 1998, call by the defendant to York County Control, saying the conversations between Witman and 911 dispatchers are admissible at trial.