Story highlights Lee Boyd Malvo is one of two people convicted in the 2002 sniper attacks

He will remain in prison while he awaits resentencing

Washington (CNN) A federal judge in Virginia overturned the two life sentences of Washington-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo on Friday, more than a decade after he was originally sentenced as a teenager.

US District Court Judge Raymond Jackson, in a rare move, sent Malvo's case back to state courts in Chesapeake and Spotslvania County in Virginia for resentencing.

Malvo argued in a federal petition that his sentences didn't align with current Supreme Court case law that judges must follow when sentencing juveniles.

The relevant case law, concerning the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and usual punishment, came down after Malvo was originally sentenced.

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