People v. Richards

*293Opinion

CANTIL-SAKAUYE, C. J.

In 1997, petitioner William Richards was convicted of the 1993 murder of his wife, Pamela. In 2012, by a four-to-three decision, this court rejected his claim on habeas corpus that his conviction should be overturned because the prosecution’s dental expert had recanted his expert opinion testimony at trial that a lesion on Pamela’s hand was a human bite mark matching petitioner’s unusual teeth. (In re Richards (2012) 55 Cal.4th 948 [150 Cal.Rptr.3d 84, 289 P.3d 860] (Richards I).) The majority concluded that the expert’s recantation did not constitute “false…