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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Child/Minor Sex Abuse (incl. molestation) |
Sentence: |
4 years suspended |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
1997 |
Year Convicted: |
1999 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Ireland |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Michael Feichin Hannon was wrongly convicted in 1999 of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in January 1997, based on her eyewitness testimony. The 22-year-old Michael Hannon was given a four-year suspended sentence. In November 2006 the girl went to the police and told them that she fabricated the accusation against the man, and that nothing had happened. She explained that she made up the allegations against the man out of “revenge and misplaced loyalty” to her family, who had been in dispute with the man’s family over land. In March 2008 a copy of her statement was provided to his attorneys, and his attorneys filed a motion with the Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction. On February 9, 2009 the Court of Appeals overturned Hannon's conviction. On April 27, 2009, Ireland's Court of Appeals certified Hannon's conviction was a miscarriage of justice, which enables him to pursue compensation. The Court stated: "“It is …difficult to know how a person could more clearly and obviously be in the position where a new or newly discovered fact "shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice", …tham a person whose accuser has, almost a decade after the event, confessed that her allegation was wholly false and contrived." [People (DPP) v Hannon [2009] 2 I.L.R.M. 235] Hannon's now 22-year-old accuser (as of April 2009), Una Hardester, is the daughter of American actor Croften Hardester who appeared in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, RTE soap Fair City, and several 1980s TV shows that included the A-Team, The Fall Guy, and The Equalizer. She has said she will return to Ireland if charged with making false allegations. The day after his conviction was quashed, Hannon told reporters on April 28, 2009 that he would be seeking one million euros in compensation. More than seven years later, it was announced on October 13, 2016 by Ireland's Minister for Justice that the Irish government and Hannon had reached an undisclosed settlment of his compensation claim." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Perjury by the alleged 10-year-old "victim" who later recanted her accusations." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On February 9, 2009 Ireland's Court of Criminal Appeal overturned his conviction based on his accusers credible retraction that she fabricated the original charges. On April 27, 2009, Ireland's Court of Criminal Appeal certified Hannon's conviction as a miscarriage of justice, which enables him to pursue compensation." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"Undisclosed settlement (Govt. of Ireland, Oct. 13, 2016)" |
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: |
People (DPP) v Hannon [2009] 2 I.L.R.M. 235 |
Information Location 1: |
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Information Source 2: |
"I'll face courts for my sex abuse lies', By Shane Phelan (Investigative Correspondent), The Independent (Dublin, Ireland), April 29, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ill-face-courts-for-my-sex-abuse-lies-1722552.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Woman admits she made up sex assault allegations, Irish Times (Dublin), February 10, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0210/1233867929686.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Bitter land fued behind wrongful sexual assault conviction, By Maeve Sheehan, The Independent (Dublin, IRL) - 02-15-2009" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/bitter-land-fued-behind-wrongful-sexual-assault-conviction-1640574.html |
Information Source 5: |
"Man seeks miscarriage of justice declaration, By Mary Carolan, Irish Times, April 20, 2009" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0420/breaking58.htm |
Book About Case: |
"Man wrongly convicted of sexual assault to sue State, By Martina Nee, Galway Advertiser (Galway, Ireland), April 30, 2009" |
Book Information: |
http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/11538 |
Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org