The California Supreme Court agreed to reconsider its decision not to overturn the murder conviction of a man charged with the slaying of his wife nearly 20 years ago.

The court issued an order this week asking prosecutors why William Richards' conviction should not be overturned on the basis of a new state law inspired by his case.

The law, which took effect in January, makes it easier for defendants to get their convictions thrown out when experts later repudiate their trial testimony. It prompted attorneys for Richards, who has always maintained his innocence, to again ask the California Supreme Court to throw out a jury's guilty verdict.

"This is exactly what we were hoping for," said Richards' attorney, Jan Stiglitz, with the California Innocence Project at the California Western School of Law.

Richards, 65, was convicted of murder in 1997 in the strangling of his wife after a San Bernardino County jury heard an expert testify that a mark on her hand was consistent with the defendant's teeth.