Judge Thomas S. Smith used new DNA tests of hair to overturn the conviction of Larry Leroy Peterson

Judge Thomas S. Smith used new DNA tests of hair to overturn the conviction of Larry Leroy Peterson for the rape and murder of 25-year-old Jacqueline Harrison.
The ruling by Judge Thomas S. Smith did not exonerate Peterson, however, and the original charges stand. The judge set bail at $200,000 and said the case would soon be in a jury's hands.
Defense lawyer Vanessa Potkin, a staff attorney for the Innocence Project at the Cardozo School of Law in New York, said about 30 hairs found at the crime scene were tested for DNA, and none placed Peterson there. Peterson, now 54, spent 18 years behind bars.
Smith's ruling marked the first time a New Jersey court had overturned a conviction because of DNA evidence. A trial date could be set at a Sept. 19 hearing.