NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man imprisoned for nearly two decades for a murder he says he didn't commit is free on bail after successfully challenging the bite-mark evidence used to convict him.
Forty-eight-year-old Gerard Richardson posted bond Tuesday in Newark, a day after a judge overturned his conviction. Prosecutors did not oppose the decision but the charges still stand. They have not decided whether to retry him.
Richardson was convicted in 1995 of the murder of 19-year-old Monica Reyes, whose body was found in a ditch in Bernards Township.
The chief physical evidence included a bite mark on the victim's back that a prosecution expert said was made by Richardson.
A recent court-ordered DNA test requested by the Innocence Project revealed that the mark contained the DNA of a different man.
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