James Richardson's case was one of many that was overturned after Fred Zain, formerly of the West Virginia State Police crime laboratory, was investigated for a string of false criminal convictions in which his testimony or credentials were falsified.

Richardson received $2 million from the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management to settle his claims against the State Police and Kanawha County, where he was convicted for the 1989 rape and murder of a Cross Lanes neighbor and then setting her home on fire. At the time of the crime, Richardson actually helped save a young girl from the fire, but was later named the perpetrator.

At trial, Fred Zain linked Richardson to the crime with semen evidence and excluded three other suspects. The jury handed down a sentence of life imprisonment without parole based, in large part, on Zain's testimony. In 1996, DNA testing proved Zain wrong, and led to the vacating of Richardson's conviction. The state did not retry him.

Richardson was released to home confinement in 1996 after his conviction was set aside. In 1998, he was released from home confinement. In July 1999, all charges against Richardson were formally dismissed.