Lula 2022 hopes brighten as Brazil's top court weighs tossing graft evidence

FILE PHOTO: Former Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva puts on a face mask after voting at a polling station during the municipal elections in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, November 15, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - A day after overturning graft convictions of Brazil's leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Supreme Court was split on Tuesday on whether to throw out evidence against him, which could clear his name ahead of a possible 2022 presidential run.

A panel of Supreme Court judges suspended its ruling with a 2-2 decision on the appeal by Lula's legal team alleging that Sergio Moro, the former judge who sentenced him, was not impartial in overseeing investigations of the former president.