The state Superior Court has upheld a county judge’s ruling that statements a then-16-year-old made about the shooting death of his great-grandfather in 2009 cannot be used at any court proceeding.

The appellate court, in its ruling, said it agreed with Senior Judge Joseph Augello on his ruling to suppress statements Cody Lee made to police about the shooting death of his 80-year-old great-grandfather, Herbert Lee, of Lake Township.

“We find no error in the suppression court’s ruling,” the court said in a nine-page opinion filed Tuesday.

Augello ruled in April after attorneys for Lee – Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. and Melissa Scartelli – argued statements Lee made to state troopers should be thrown out because Lee was suffering from hypothermia and was unable to discern whether talking to police was the right or wrong thing to do.

Lee, now 17, had been a junior at Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School and is charged as an adult with fatally shooting Herbert Lee with a rife on Dec. 9 in their Lake Township home.

The next step in Lee’s case will be a hearing on whether homicide charges will be sent to county juvenile court to be heard because he was 16 at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors will be prohibited from using statements Lee made at the transfer to juvenile court hearing or any trial.

“We’re thrilled with the result. It’s obviously a huge victory,” Olszewski said Wednesday. “We were confident that Judge Augello made the legally correct ruling … the Superior Court confirmed that.”

Olszewski said another attorney representing Lee, Charles Rado, is communicating with Lee about the ruling. Lee is currently housed at Adolphi Village Middle Creek Male Secure Treatment Facility in Westmoreland County.

“I’m sure it’s an early Christmas present for Cody,” Olszewski said.

First Assistant District Attorney Jeff Tokach said he and fellow prosecutors, Richard Hughes and William Dunn, filed their appeal to Augello’s ruling five days later, saying the judge’s ruling “clearly substantially handicapped” their case.

In his ruling, Augello said he agreed that Lee suffered from moderate hypothermia and that he had on only socks, jeans and a T-shirt when he walked around the woods for several hours on Dec. 9 and the early-morning hours of Dec. 10.

“Certainly, hypothermia played a significant role in the suppression court’s decision. However, other factors came into play as well, including Cody’s age; his lack of food, drink and sleep; the conditions attendant to his detention, including being handcuffed to a bench in wet clothes; the fact that Cody’s father the ‘interested adult’ with whom Cody spoke before giving the statement had himself been up for 24-hours and by his own admission was an ‘emotional wreck’ and ‘in shock’ having experienced the loss of his adoptive father … ,” the Superior Court wrote in its ruling Tuesday.

The alleged statements Lee made to police include a recorded statement in which he detailed the evening of Dec. 9 and the shooting death of his great-grandfather after the two argued.

Lee allegedly said his great-grandfather made rude comments about the teen’s late mother.

He said he went into his great-grandfather’s bedroom, retrieved a rifle and shot Herbert Lee.