Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Lucia de Berk

 

Charge:

Murder and Attempted Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

6.5

Year Crime:

2001

Year Convicted:

2004

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Netherlands

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

The Hague

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Lucia de Berk was a nurse wrongly convicted in 2003 of committing four murders and attempting to murder three other people in 2000 and 2001 at three hospitals she worked at in The Hague, Netherlands. Berk was arrested in 2001. Her convictions were based on the prosecution's contention she had poisoned the patients -- all of whom she was responsible for patient care and delivery of medication while on duty. Berk was sentenced on March 24, 2003 to life in prison, which did not include the possibility of parole. Berk appealed. On June 18, 2004 her convictions were affirmed, and the appeals court also found her guilty of three additional murders, and increased her life sentence to include coerced psychiatric treatment, though the state criminal psychological observation unit did not find any evidence she suffered from mental illness. On June 17, 2008, the Advocate-General of the Supreme Court requested for the Supreme Court to reopen the case. On October 7, 2008 the Court granted the request based on substantial new facts that in some cases Berk could not have caused the deaths, and that all the deaths could have been from natural causes. After 6-1-2 years in custody Berk was released pending her retrial in the Court of Appeal. During her retrial the Director of Public prosecutions conceeded the evidence did not support Berk's conviction, and on April 14, 2010 the appeals court acquitted Berk in all 10 cases."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On April 14, 2010 the Arnhem Appeals Court in The Netherlands acquitted Lucia de Berks' in all ten cases, after the Director of Public prosecutions conceeded their was insufficient evidence to support her conviction in any of the cases."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

40

Age When Released:

46

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Dutch nurse jailed for seven murders has conviction quashed, By Tony Sheldon, BMJ.com, April 16, 2010"

Information Location 1:

http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2100

Information Source 2:

"Dutch nurse Lucy De Berk acquitted of patient murders, By Staff writers, BBC News, April 14, 2010"

Information Location 2:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8620997.stm

Information Source 3:

"LUCIA De B. IS INNOCENT, www.luciadeb.nl"

Information Location 3:

http://www.luciadeb.nl/english/

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"Lucia de B: Reconstruction of a Miscarriage of Justice, By Ton Derksen, with Metta de Noo-Derksen (2006)"

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

"Accused (Orig. title: Lucia de B), Independent Films, 2014"

Comments About Case:

Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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