A western Michigan man serving a life sentence for killing his mother and two sisters when he was a teenager will get a shorter prison term and an opportunity for freedom, a judge said Tuesday.

A judge has thrown out convictions and ordered the release of a man who has long claimed innocence in the slayings of two Michigan deer hunters in 1990.

The state of Michigan is asking a judge to release a man who has served nearly 21 years of a life sentence for the fatal shootings of two hunters.

Trial courts in Michigan are going to continue operating virtually where possible, despite much of the state slowly returning to a pre-pandemic normal, officials announced last week.