Notorious convicted murderer Scott Peterson must be re-sentenced for the 2004 killing of his pregnant wife and unborn son, a Bay Area judge ruled on Wednesday.
Peterson, 48, was sentenced to death in 2005. The Modesto man was found guilty of murdering his 27-year-old wife, Laci Peterson, after investigators said he dumped her body and the body of their unborn child into the San Francisco Bay.
Peterson has always maintained his innocence.
His death penalty sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court last year, and Peterson has been held on Death Row at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County for the interim, without a sentence.
Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager, whose office oversaw the 2005 prosecution, said she would not seek the death penalty a second time against Peterson.
He is set to be re-sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November.
Peterson's attorneys have reportedly challenged the re-sentencing in hopes of obtaining an entirely new murder trial for their client. They have alleged unspecified "misconduct" on the part of a juror in the 2005 trial. According to San Francisco's KRON 4, they hope to overturn the conviction entirely.
Peterson will return to court on Oct. 6 to set a date for re-sentencing.