Charles McCrory, who has spent over 40 years in prison for the 1985 murder of his wife Julie, is set to be freed or granted a new trial following a federal judge's ruling. The original conviction relied almost entirely on bite mark evidence, a forensic technique now widely considered scientifically invalid. Federal judge Austin Huffaker ordered that the Alabama Attorney General's Office must either grant McCrory a new trial or release him within 180 days, criticising the conviction as fundamentally unfair given the weakness of the non-bite-mark evidence.

McCrory was convicted in October 1985 based primarily on two small marks found on his wife's arm, which forensic dentist Dr. Richard Souviron testified matched McCrory's teeth. The case lacked DNA evidence, confessions, or a clear motive, and despite the presence of five chop wounds to the head, 11 puncture wounds to the chest, and other injuries, McCrory had no blood on his clothes or in his apartment. Souviron has since recanted, stating he cannot even be certain the marks were made by teeth at all. The couple were in the midst of a divorce at the time of the killing, and McCrory reportedly refused a plea deal six years ago that would have freed him had he confessed.