SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- A Spokane Valley man serving a 10-year sentence for making the poison ricin is asking to have his conviction overturned because one of the government's expert witnesses was fired for misconduct on other cases. The Spokesman-Review says a federal court hearing is set for Jan. 29 on the appeal filed by Kenneth Olsen. He wants a new trial because of the firing of the head of the Washington State Patrol crime lab where evidence was tested. Arnold Melnikoff was fired in 2004 after a Montana rape case was overturned because his testimony was not based on sound science. Olsen was convicted in 2003 of making the deadly poison as part of a plan to kill his wife.
