The case against Rudolph Holton, 48, has been disintegrating for months as prosecution witnesses recanted and new DNA testing cast doubt on crucial evidence.

Prosecutors already had agreed that Holton should get a new sentencing in the rape and strangulation of Katrina Graddy, 17.

But in a 22-page order issued Friday, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Daniel Perry went further, saying prosecutors inadvertently withheld police reports and other evidence favorable to Holton.

Prosecutors ``did not act in bad faith and did not willfully suppress any evidence,'' he wrote.

Perry also ruled that hair found in Graddy's mouth - hair prosecutors tried to link to Holton - later was shown through DNA testing to belong not to Holton but most likely to Graddy.

But he didn't find that prosecutors ``intentionally misled the jury or presented false evidence. The state presented evidence based on the medical technology available at the time.''

Still, Perry concluded, the errors and omissions at trial were harmful enough to entitle Holton to another trial.

Holton was ``ecstatic'' at the ruling, said defense lawyer Martin McClain.

Prosecutors said they are reviewing Perry's ruling and haven't decided whether to appeal. They have said they stand by Holton's conviction but now are left with a weakened case, including witnesses who recanted after the trial.

Also, the evidence withheld from Holton at trial ``really does change the dynamic of the case,'' McClain said.

``If the state wants to retry this, they've got real problems,'' he said. ``I don't think the state has any evidence on which a conviction can be based.''

Graddy was strangled with a piece of cloth, sexually assaulted with a beer bottle and her body doused with a flammable liquid and ignited in a vacant house on Scott Street in June 1986.

Investigators said a pack of cigarettes found near Graddy's remains bore Holton's fingerprints. Holton had numerous convictions for robbery, grand theft and burglary.

Holton pleaded not guilty. He said he smoked crack cocaine at the house and probably discarded the cigarette pack there.

But a jury convicted Holton and in December 1986 he was sentenced to death by then- Circuit Judge Harry Lee Coe III.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 1990 and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Holton's appeal in 1991.

This year, however, several witnesses admitted lying about seeing Holton with Graddy the night she died. A key state witness, a jailhouse snitch who said Holton confessed, also recanted.

Holton's attorneys, meanwhile, presented the results of DNA testing on hair found at the crime scene.

His attorneys said the evidence pointed to another man, whom Graddy said raped her shortly before she was murdered. Graddy never pressed charges.

In response, prosecutors took saliva samples from the man named by defense lawyers. They also asked that shards of glass from the bottle used to rape Graddy be tested for Holton's fingerprints and DNA.

Prosecutors said Friday they haven't received the results of those tests.

McClain said the man who gave the saliva sample has skipped bail.

Perry rejected many of Holton's arguments, including allegations his trial lawyer was ineffective. He also wasn't convinced that witnesses who had recanted now are being truthful.

A new trial date has not been set.

Reporter Gary Sprott can be reached at (813) 259-7837.