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Litigation

Feb. 2, 2013

New technology calls into question criminal convictions

A recent state Supreme Court decision could have ripple effects for years as advances in technology undermine what was once considered credible forensic evidence.

By Emily Green

Daily Journal Staff Writer

William Richards is serving a 25 years to life sentence behind bars for murdering his wife. Sixteen years ago, a jury unanimously pegged him as the person who strangled her to death and then crushed her skull with a cinder block at the couple's camper in a remote area of San Bernardino County.

The evidence against Richards was spotty: eight minutes to kill his wife based on the amount of time he was home, blue cotto...

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