People v. Richards
Annotate this CasePetitioner, convicted of murdering his wife, petitioned for habeas relief contending that he is entitled to relief under the 2014 legislative revision of Penal Code section 1473. The Legislature amended section 1473 to state that - "'false evidence‘ shall include opinions of experts that have either been repudiated by the expert who originally provided the opinion at a hearing or trial or that have been undermined by later scientific research or technological advances." The court concluded that it is reasonably probable that the false evidence presented by the prosecution's dental expert at petitioner‘s 1997 jury trial affected the outcome of that proceeding. The expert had recanted his expert opinion testimony at trial that a lesion on the wife's hand was a human bite mark matching petitioner‘s unusual teeth. Accordingly, the court granted the petition.
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