Guatemala top court overturns genocide conviction

GUATEMALA CITY  — Guatemala's top court has overturned the genocide conviction of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt's and ordered his trial to resume.

Constitutional Court secretary Martin Guzman says the trial needs to go back to where it stood on April 19 to solve several appeal issues.

Monday's ruling comes 10 days after a three-judge panel convicted the 86-year-old Rios Montt of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in massacres of Mayas during Guatemala's civil war.

The tribunal had sentenced him to 80 years in prison in what many called a historic decision. It was the first such sentence ever given a former Latin American leader.

His lawyers immediately filed an appeal and he spent only one day in prison before he was moved to a military hospital, where he remains.