| First Name | James |
| Last Name | Richardson |
| Year of Conviction | 1989 |
| Year of Exoneration | 1999 |
| State of Conviction | West Virginia |
| Trial, Bench Trial, or Guilty Plea | Trial |
| Type of Crime | Rape and Murder |
| Death Sentence | No |
| Life / LWOP sentence | Life |
| Gender of Exoneree | Male |
| Race of exoneree | White |
| Juvenile | No |
| Type of Innocence Defense |
|
| Description / Quotes from Testimony Concerning Defense | ● Testimony of defendant describing whereabouts the evening of the crime. |
| Did the defendant testify at trial? | Yes |
| Quotes from Exoneree Testimony | “Q: So, all of this time you’re thinking that you kind of saved the little girl’s life, right? A: Yes. Q: And you felt good about that? A: Yes, sir. Q: Did you think you were kind of a hero, sort of? A: No, not really. Q: Mr. Richardson, did you kill [the victim]? A: No, sir, I did not. Q: Did you burglarize her home? A: No, sir, I did not. Q: Did you sexually assault her without her consent? A: No, sir, I did not.” |
| Types of evidence at trial |
|
| Type of Forensic Evidence |
|
| Types of Flawed Forensics |
|
| Reason why invalid | (1), (3) Masking; false probability |
| Brief Quote / Description of Testimony | Ignored masking where substances were consistent with victim, and divided statistic in half claiming to eliminate females. See Part II.A.1 for a description of the problem of masking and non-quantification and discussion of similar cases. |
| Highest level reached | NR |