DURHAM -- A famed-Durham novelist will be re-tried for the 2001 murder of his second wife.
Michael Peterson appeared in a Durham County court Monday, hoping to get the entire case thrown out.
Peterson was convicted of killing his wife, Kathleen, and sentenced to life in prison in 2003. In 2011, his conviction was overturned when it was discovered that an SBI agent gave misleading testimony.
His attorneys argued that evidence from the first trial was mishandled and possible contamination
Peterson was convicted and served eight years for the crime.
He was granted a new trial five years ago after a key witness for the prosecution misled the jury.
"We were certainly hoping it would go our way. We all prefer not to go to trial, but he's already been in prison for eight years. That's more than what a person would do on a manslaughter charged back in 2001. So we were hoping this would be the end," said Mary Jude Darrow, defense attorney.
Peterson remains freed from prison.
His second trial is set to start in early May 2017.