Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Hong Bui

 

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

4.5

Year Crime:

2002

Year Convicted:

2006

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Australia

County or Region of Crime:

Victoria Province

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Hong Bui was codefendant of Hoang Quang Tran and Long Thanh Tran. All three were convicted in 2006 of the July 8, 2002 murder of a man outside of a nightclub. The murder victim was killed with machetes and swords in retaliation for hitting a man on the head with a bottle, while the man was dancing on the nightclub floor. The prosecution did not allege that any of the three co-defendants participated in the murder, but that they were present when it happened and they knew the people who wielded the weapons. The three defendants appealed, and on June 17, 2008 Victoria's Court of Appeal quashed their convictions based on insufficiency of the evidence that the defendant's had any intentional role in the murder, other than simply being in the vicinity when it occurred and knowing the people who committed the murder..The three-judge panel wrote, "There was nothing save their background association with those engaged in the events, and their physical proximity to what occurred, that could suggest they played any role in the attack." The three co-defendants were released after more than 4-1/2 years in custody."

Conviction Caused By:

Proximity to the murder and knowing the murderers.

Innocence Proved By:

"Conviction quashed by Victoria's Court of Appeal on June 17, 2008, based on insufficient evidence that the defendant had any role in the murder, other than simply being in the vicinity when it occurred and knowing the people who committed the murder..The three-judge panel wrote, "There was nothing save their background association with those engaged in the events, and their physical proximity to what occurred, that could suggest they played any role in the attack.""

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

22

Age When Released:

26

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Asian

Information Source 1:

"Three to go free over Salt nightclub killing, By Kate Hagan (staff writers), The Age (Melbourne, AUS), June 18, 2008"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Salt nightclub three go free on killings, By Kate Bice and Mandi Zonneveldt (staff writers), Herald Sun (Melbourne, AUS), June 18, 2008"

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

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