Aust baseballer's murderer may be freed

Chancey Luna, who as a 16-year-old randomly shot dead Australian baseball player Chris Lane in a drive-by shooting in Oklahoma, has had the appeal of his life jail sentence tentatively set for January.

Prosecutors, Luna's legal team and the judge overseeing the appeal held a conference call on Wednesday.

A status conference will be held in Duncan, Oklahoma on November 22 to confirm the appeal date.

Luna, now 20, shot Lane in the back on a Duncan street in 2013.

He was swiftly found guilty of first degree murder at a 2015 trial and sentenced to life.

Lane was a baseball player on a Oklahoma college team and had gone for a jog.

Luna was prosecuted as an adult despite his age.

A five-judge appeals court earlier this year confirmed his murder conviction, but tossed the life sentence and ordered a new jury to decide Luna's sentence.

It could mean Luna, who would have lived the rest of his life in jail, has a chance of one day being set free.

Luna was sitting in the back seat of a 17-year-old friend's car and shot Lane with a revolver as he saw the Australian jogging along a residential street.