Alabama judge orders new trial for man convicted on disputed bite-mark evidence

Charles McCrory, convicted in 1985 of murdering his wife Julie Bonds McCrory, is set for a new trial after a U.S. District Judge determined the bite-mark evidence was fundamentally flawed. The original conviction relied heavily on two small marks on Julie’s arm that a forensic dentist claimed matched McCrory’s teeth, a method now widely discredited as junk science. The dentist, Dr. Richard Souviron, later withdrew his testimony, stating he could not be certain the marks were dental.

Judge Austin Huffaker Jr. criticized the state court’s refusal to grant a new trial as an unreasonable application of federal law. McCrory, who declined a plea offer years ago, has spent nearly four decades behind bars. The case also highlighted the lack of DNA, confessions, or clear motive linking him to the crime. Prosecutors had argued that jurors could assess the photographs themselves, a claim the judge rejected as implausible.