Howard Charvis

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Charge:	Negligence (including Criminal Negligence)
Sentence:	3 months
Years Imprisoned:	0.17
Year Crime:	2008
Year Convicted:	2008
Year Cleared:	2009
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Jamaica
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:	St. Catherine
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Howard Charvis was wrongly convicted on May 15, 2008 of two counts of negligence for certifying that two pictures submitted for a hurricane relief payment (a picture before the hurricane and one after showing the damage) were signed as being the property of the same person, when they were in fact certified by different woman. Howard Charvis was a Justice of the Peace and an accountant in St. Catherine. He was sentenced to three months in prison for negligence in not verifying the name on the certification for the two pictures was the same. Charvis was granted bail pending the outcome of his appeal. On appeal Jamaica's Court of Appeal ruled on March 31, 2009 that there was no Jamaican law making Charvis' certification illegal, and acquitted him because he had been convicted of a non-existent law. The woman, who obtained $40,000 in hurricane relief funds was convicted of fraud."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous interpretation by the trial judge of what constitutes negligence under Jamaican law.
Innocence Proved By:	"On appeal Jamaica's Court of Appeal ruled on March 31, 2009 that there was no Jamaican law making Charvis' certification illegal, and acquitted him because he had been convicted of a non-existent law."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	56
Age When Released:	56
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"JP case quashed, Jamaica Gleaner, March 31, 2009"
Information Location 1:	http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=7674
Information Source 2:	"Man freed of non-existent charge, By Barbara Gayle, The Jamaica Star, April 1, 2009"
Information Location 2:	http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20090401/news/news6.html
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Howard Charvis

Charge:

Negligence (including Criminal Negligence)

Sentence:

3 months

Years Imprisoned:

0.17

Year Crime:

2008

Year Convicted:

2008

Year Cleared:

2009

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Jamaica

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

St. Catherine

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous interpretation by the trial judge of what constitutes negligence under Jamaican law.

Innocence Proved By:

"On appeal Jamaica's Court of Appeal ruled on March 31, 2009 that there was no Jamaican law making Charvis' certification illegal, and acquitted him because he had been convicted of a non-existent law."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

56

Age When Released:

56

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"JP case quashed, Jamaica Gleaner, March 31, 2009"

Information Location 1:

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=7674

Information Source 2:

"Man freed of non-existent charge, By Barbara Gayle, The Jamaica Star, April 1, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20090401/news/news6.html

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Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: