The Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney will get the opportunity to seek a new indictment in the case involving sweepstakes machines. But it will have to do so without the two deputy prosecutors who persuaded a state grand jury to return the old indictment, a state judge ruled Friday.

Circuit Judge Randall K.O. Lee said it is his opinion that whatever misconduct was committed by deputy prosecutors Katherine Kealoha and Jacob Delaplane when they presented the case in front of the grand jury in May, was probably done due to their inexperience. He therefore denied the defendants’ request to throw out the case for good.

He also said that if the state is able to secure a new indictment, which he said he doubts based on the evidence that was presented to the grand jury in May, that Kealoha and Delaplane are disqualified from prosecuting the case.

A grand jury indicted nine defendants in May on 414 counts of gambling, money laundering and racketeering in connection with sweepstakes machines Honolulu police had seized from arcades on Oahu in September 2012.

At the state’s request, Lee dismissed the case and gave the prosecutor the opportunity to seek a new indictment because Delaplane told the court he had identified potential deficiencies in the indictment. Delaplane said he also wanted to pursue additional defendants.

The lawyers for the nine defendants cried foul because the request to dismiss came one day after Lee denied the state’s request for more time to answer allegations that Delaplane and Kealoha knowingly presented false information to the grand jury.

The defense lawyers also alleged that Kealoha and Delaplane lied to Lee in their reason for wanting the dismissal.