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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Automotive |
Sentence: |
Fined $600 and disqualified from driving for six months |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2005 |
Year Convicted: |
2006 |
Year Cleared: |
2008 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New Zealand |
County or Region of Crime: |
Otago |
City of Crime: |
Alexandra |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Shane Cribb was wrongly convicted in March 2006 of convicted of careless driving causing injury after he was involved in an automobile collision involving a police officer in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand on on July 14, 2005. Cribb was convicted of hitting the police car when it was turning left off a road. Cribb was acquitted after a retrial on June 18, 2008, based on new evidence by two witnesses that the two police officers involved committed perjury and falsified their reports to conceal that the police car had in fact been doing a U-turn when it pulled out directly in front of the car the 17-year-old Cribb was driving. The prosecution presented no evidence during Cribb's retrial. The court awarded Cribb NZL$18,000 costs in September 2008. Senior Constable Neil Ford was convicted on August 20, 2010, by a jury of deliberately misleading the court (perjury), and on September 28, 2010, Ford was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison. A week before Ford's conviction his colleague, Constable Dairne Cassidy, pled guilty in Alexandra District Court to perverting the course of justice by hiding evidence that could have been vital in the investigation. Cribb's friend Steve Potter spent $40,000 in legal and investigation fees to clear him of the crime, and after the police officer's convictions Cribb said he would seek to have his expenses reimbursed." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury and falsification of reports by two police officers. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Shane Cribb had his conviction quashed on June 18, 2008 based on new evidence by two witnesses that the two police officers involved committed perjury and falsified their reports." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"NZL$18,000 (Otago, NZL, Sept. 2008)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Name cleared but still no apology, The Southland Times (Invercargill, NZL), June 19, 2008" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/entertainment/496185 |
Information Source 2: |
"Careless driving charges dropped, The Southland Times (Invercargill, NZL), June 19, 2008" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/496366 |
Information Source 3: |
"Compensation sought over wrongful conviction, Channel 3 News (Auckland, NZL), August 23, 2010" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.3news.co.nz/Compensation-sought-over-wrongful-conviction/tabid/423/articleID/172088/Default.aspx?ArticleID=172088 |
Information Source 4: |
"Man awarded $18,000 after three-year battle for justice, Xtra News (NZL), September 19, 2008" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.allvoices.com/news/1347440-man-awarded |
Information Source 5: |
"City man framed by officer 'stoked' justice done, Waikato Times, September 29, 2010" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/latest-news/4179048/City-man-framed-by-officer-stoked-justice-done |
Book About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org