An appeals court in the Dominican Republic has ordered a new trial for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco , according to the Associated Press . Franco was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and given a two-year suspended sentence earlier this year. A new panel of judges has been ordered to oversee the case. It is unknown when the new trial will begin.

"The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions, many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial," Franco's attorney, Teodosio Jáquez, told the AP.

José Martínez Montan, the district attorney for the province of Puerto Plata and the prosecutor for the initial trial, said: "In a new trial, the procedures will be reevaluated. We won the case in the first trial, and we expect the same in the new trial.

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