WASECA — Attorneys for a teenager accused of plotting a school attack in southern Minnesota say a state appeals court lacks the authority to reinstate the most serious charges filed against the boy.

Defense lawyer Mark Nyvold argues the state may only appeal a dismissal for probable cause, not a disagreement over the facts at issue.

A Waseca County judge in July dismissed attempted murder and attempted damage to property charges against the 17-year-old.

Prosecutors have appealed the judge’s dismissal, citing steps they claim the teen took to bring his plot to fruition.

Court documents say police found guns, explosives and a journal that outlined a plan to kill his family, set a fire to divert first responders, then go to Waseca Junior and Senior High School and “kill as many students as he could.”