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RALEIGH, N.C. — A lawyer for Mike Peterson's stepdaughter will ask a judge to forego a jury trial and declare the novelist financially liable for his wife's death.
Lawyer Jay Trehy will make the request on behalf of Caitlin Atwater, who contends in a civil lawsuit that Peterson "maliciously" assaulted his wife, Kathleen, and caused her death.
Durham Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, who presided over Peterson's murder trial, is scheduled to hear the request in January.
Peterson is currently serving a life sentence at the Nash Correctional Institution.
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