A ruling released Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey has cleared the way for Ryan Ferguson, convicted in the 2001 murder of a Columbia sports editor, to proceed with a $100 million lawsuit against six Columbia police officers.

The court ruled that the six officers do not have qualified immunity in the case, which would protect them from civil liability except in cases in which they violated an individual’s constitutional rights. Ferguson has alleged the six fabricated evidence, coached or coerced witnesses into giving false testimony and recklessly failed to investigate other possible suspects while putting together a murder case against him.

The six officers are John Short, Jeff Nichols, Jeff Westbrook, Bryan Leibhart, Latisha Stroer, and Lloyd Simons.

Ferguson was convicted of the murder of Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt based largely on the testimony of Charles Erickson, who confessed to the crime, and the identification of Jerry Trump, then a janitor at the Tribune. Both have recanted their stories since.

His conviction was vacated in 2013 on the basis that he did not receive a fair trial. Ferguson had served nearly 10 years of a 40-year sentence. A vacated sentence is not the same as an overturned sentence, and Ferguson could be tried again.

Ferguson’s suit originally named other defendants, including the city of Columbia, Boone County, and former prosecuting attorney Kevin Crane, who is now serving as a circuit court judge. Those defendants and others were dismissed from the case with prejudice, which means they could still be tried at a future date.