Jamie Lee Peterson is being set free after serving 16 years of a life sentence for the rape and murder of a Kalkaska woman in 1996. His conviction was overturned last month, based on new DNA evidence.
He was released from state prison today and will move to a halfway house downstate on Monday.
As the judge released Peterson, he left open the possibility for a new trial. Prosecutor Mike Perreault hasn't decided whether to press new charges in the case.
"Right now I'm going to get the information from law enforcement officers about the issues that were brought up by defense counsel over the last few months challenging the original trial," Perreault says. "If they say there's not enough to go forward, I'm not going to revisit the issue."
Prosecutors had theorized that Peterson was one of two assailants. However, further tests on crime scene DNA last year excluded Peterson and identified Jason Ryan as a new suspect.
Ryan faces trial in December.