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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
8 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.25 |
Year Crime: |
2003 |
Year Convicted: |
2005 |
Year Cleared: |
2008 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New Zealand |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Christchurch |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Aaron Lance Farmer was wrongly convicted in April 2005 of raping a 22-year-old girl on September 1, 2003 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was convicted primarily on the identification by the victim, who was adamant that Aaron Farmer was her attacker. Aaron Farmer was sentenced to eight years in prison. New Zealand's Court of Appeals overturned Farmer conviction in June 2007 based on his lawyer's failure to subpoena an alibi witness. After 2 years and 3 months incarceration Farmer was released on bail pending his retrial. In preparation for Farmer's retrial new DNA tests of the victim's cervical swab and fingernail scrappings were then performed using more sensitive techniques than were available at the time of his trial. They excluded Farmer as the perpetrator, and based on that new evidence the prosecution dismissed the rape charge in April 2008. Awarded compensation on April 14, 2011 of NZL$351,575. That equals US$276,869 at conversion rate with NZL dollar on 4-18-2011. There were calls by some people in New Zealand to increase his compensation award to NZL$1 million. In November 2016 the government of New Zealand reimbursed Farmer $5,941.85 that he had to pay Legal Aid for their work on his case." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"New Zealand's Court of Appelas overturned Farmer conviction in June 2007 largely based on his lawyers failure to present alibi evidence. In preparation for Farmer's retrial new DNA tests of the victim's cervical swab and fingernail scrappings were then performed using more sensitive techniques than were available at the time of his trial. They excluded Farmer as the perpetrator, and based on that new evidence the prosecution dismissed the rape charge in April 2008." |
Defendant Aided By: |
"Aaron Farmer's mother Bev, wrote to politicians and lawyers begging for help. Her efforts led her to lawyer Simon Shamey, who took Farmer's case and immediately started picking holes in his trial defence and the prosecution's case." |
Compensation Awarded: |
"NZL$357,516.85. NZL$351,575 (Govt. of New Zealand, April 2011) (US$276,869 at conversion rate on 4-18-2011) and, NZL$5,941.85 (Govt of New Zealand, Nov. 2016)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
36 |
Age When Released: |
38 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Man freed after fresh dna tests, New Zealand Herald (Auckland, NZ), April 26, 2008" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10506369&ref=rss |
Information Source 2: |
"Pay wrongly jailed man $1m - QCs, By Hayden Donnell and Newstalk ZB, New Zealand Herald, April 15, 2011" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10719459 |
Information Source 3: |
"Man wrongly convicted of rape receives second pay out, NewsHub.co.nz, November 4, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/man-wrongly-convicted-of-rape-receives-second-pay-out-2016110419 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org