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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
3 |
Year Crime: |
1971 |
Year Convicted: |
1972 |
Year Cleared: |
2010 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Ireland |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Dublin |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Martin Conmey and Dick Donnelly were co-defendants, and both were wrongly convicted on July 14, 1972 of manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Una Lynskey, who disappeared from Co Meath, Ireland on October 12, 1971, and whose body was found two months later. The men's conviction was based on Conmey's confession after being subjected to interrogation for 48-hours. Conmey recanted his confession as being forced out of him by the police. Donnelly's conviction was overturned on appeal. Conmey served three years in prison before his release in 1975. In 2008 Conmey filed an appeal with Ireland's Criminal Court of Appeal based on new evidence that the prosecution had failed to disclose that three witnesses gave exculpatory statements before they gave inculpatory statements. The only one of the three witnesses still alive, Sean Reilly, said he had been severely pressurised into changing his original statement and had been physically assaulted by gardaí (the police). Based on the new evidence the Court overturned Conmey's conviction in November 2010. On July 28, 2014 Ireland's Court of Criminal Appeal certified that Conmey's conviction was a miscarriage of justice. Conmey then filed a lawsuit for compensation from the Irish government. In November 2016 the Irish government informed the High Court that it had agreed to ay "appropriate compensation" to Conmey." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Martin Conmey falsely confessed after being subjected to interrogation for 48-hours, and three witnesses were coerced into making new statements after they gave exculpatory statements." |
Innocence Proved By: |
Ireland's Criminal Court of Appeal overturned Conmey's conviction in November 2010. |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
21 |
Age When Released: |
24 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Court quashes 1971 manslaughter conviction, RTE News, November 22, 2010" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1122/conmeym.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Man fights to overturn 1971 manslaughter conviction for Una killing, By Sarah McInerney (staff), The Sunday Times (Irish edition), October 5, 2008" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article4882425.ece |
Information Source 3: |
"Man has manslaughter conviction overturned, Newstalk 106fm (Dublin, Ireland), November 22, 2010" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.newstalk.ie/news/3man-has-manslaughter-conviction-overturned23/ |
Information Source 4: |
"Meath man’s 1972 conviction declared miscarriage of justice, By Aodhan O'Faolain, The Irish Times, July 29, 2014" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/meath-man-s-1972-conviction-declared-miscarriage-of-justice-1.1881509 |
Information Source 5: |
"State apologises to man wrongly convicted of 1971 manslaughter, By Staff, Rte.ie, November 15, 2016" |
Information Location 5: |
https://www.rte.ie/news/2016/1115/831913-martin-conmey/ |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org