NJ: Somerset prosecutor, citing DNA, agrees to dismiss man's 1995 murder conviction



Gerard Richardson still is not a free man, but on Thursday he came closer than ever.

In a surprising reversal, the prosecutor handling the 19-year-old murder case agreed to have Richardson’s conviction thrown out citing DNA evidence that suggests another man may have killed 19-year-old Monica Reyes in 1994.

But the prosecutor so far has not agreed to dismiss the charges, meaning the case could be tried again.

Richardson, convicted by a Somerset County jury in 1995, has maintained his innocence while serving his 30-year prison sentence.

The national nonprofit Innocence Project took up his case last year and commissioned a private lab to test the genetic material taken from swabs of a bite mark found on the victim’s body.

That bite mark — along with testimony that Richardson, a drug dealer at the time, had threatened to kill Reyes over a $100 debt — is what Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Van Hise used to convince the jury of Richardson’s guilt.

But Innocence Project attorney Vanessa Potkin has argued that bite mark comparisons are notoriously unreliable and that the DNA proves her client is not the killer.

"This is a huge step forward," Potkin said Thursday after learning from a reporter that Van Hise had agreed to drop the conviction. "We are thankful the Prosecutor’s Office is doing the right thing."

Potkin said she spoke with Richardson over the phone Thursday.

"He was speechless and expressed his eagerness for his day in court. The most important thing for him now is to be in that courtroom and have his mother hear he is now being cleared of the murder."

"We are elated," Richardson’s brother, Kevin, said. "We knew one day this would be coming. We are looking forward to the day he really walks out of there."

The development doesn’t mean Richardson, who is serving time in state prison in Newark, soon will walk free.

The prosecutor still has to agree to dismiss the murder charge. And while Van Hise has not indicated whether he’d do that, he said he still believes Richardson somehow was involved in the murder.

A month ago, Van Hise suggested he would resist the Innocence Project’s efforts to spring Richardson and told reporters that the DNA could have been left by an accomplice after Richardson bit the victim.

In a letter to Superior Court Judge Julie Marino on Thursday, Van Hise says the conviction should be overturned because the DNA results "would likely change a jury’s view of the evidence against the defendant.

"Accordingly… the state suggests that there is no reason to wait until the Nov. 13 hearing on this matter and that this matter should be brought before the court at the earliest opportunity," Van Hise says in the letter obtained by the Courier News.

Van Hise defends both his handling of the case and the reliability of bite mark evidence.

"While the defense points out that bite-mark testimony has been criticized in some circles, there appears to be no authority holding it to be unreliable. In that regard, the state’s view is that the evidence submitted to he trial jury continues to suggest defendant’s involvement in the murder."

Since 2000, DNA has helped clear at least two dozen men whose convictions or arrests were based on bite-mark comparisons, according to published reports. The National Academy of Sciences and other scholarly studies have cast doubt on body bite-mark comparisons. During Richardson’s trial, the defense’s own forensic expert disagreed that the bite mark belonged to Richardson.

"The problems with bite-mark comparison testimony was not as well known in 1995 when Mr. Van Hise prosecuted the case, so it’s understandable why he may have relied on it," Potkin said Thursday. "But it’s inexcusable to defend it today given what we know."

"Our hope is that the prosecutor would dismiss the charges," she added. "At this point there is not sufficient evidence to go forward with a reprosecution of Mr. Richardson."

Original report here

　

　

　

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