Hugo Levinger

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Charge:	Manslaughter
Sentence:	7 years
Years Imprisoned:	1.5
Year Crime:	1868
Year Convicted:	1869
Year Cleared:	1870
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Australia
County or Region of Crime:	Victoria
City of Crime:	Melbourne
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Hugo Levinger was wrongly convicted on June 19, 1869 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of manslaughter related to the death in October 1868 of a Smith Sea island native being transported on the three-masted schooner Young Australian (one account says the ship's name was Daphne) to work on plantations at Fiji. At Palma island natives on board commenced quarrelling with each other that resulted in the deaths of three of them. Captain Albert Ross Hovell and a Polynesian sailor named Rangi on the Daphne were tried in Sydney for the deaths and after their convictions for murder they were sentenced to death. Their death sentences were later commuted to terms of imprisonment. As a French citizen Levinger requested a jury de medietate linguae ( a jury compossed 1/2 citizens and 1/2 foreigners). The trial judge granted Levinger's request, but he denied Levinger's request for one of the foreign jurors to be removed through a peremptory challenge. The jury in Melbourne acquitted Levinger of murder, but convicted him of manslaughter and he was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. After denial of Levinger's appeal in Australia, he appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Court in London -- the highest court of appeal for Australia. On July 26, 1870 the Privy Council unanimously quashed Hugo Levinger's manslaughter conviction on the basis he had been denied his right of eliminating jurors through the use of peremptory challenges, even though at common law a defendant could remove 20 prospective jurors without cause. The Court ordered a retrial, but since attendence of the witnesses couldn't be procurred, the charge was dismissed and Levinger was released. (Hugo Levinger v The Queen (Victoria) [1870] UKPC 46 (26 July 1870))"
Conviction Caused By:	The trial judge denied Levinger his right to remove a juror without cause by use of a peremptory challenge.
Innocence Proved By:	"On July 26, 1870 the Privy Council in London quashed Hugo Levinger's manslaughter conviction on the basis he had been denied is right of eliminating jurors through the use of peremptory challenges, even though at common law a defendant could remove 20 prospective jurors without cause. The Court ordered a retrial, but since attendence of the witnesses couldn't be procurred, the charge was dismissed and Levinger was released. (Hugo Levinger v The Queen (Victoria) [1870] UKPC 46 (26 July 1870))"
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	Hugo Levinger v The Queen (Victoria) [1870] UKPC 46 (26 July 1870)
Information Location 1:	http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1870/1870_46.html
Information Source 2:	"The Case of Hugo Levinger, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (Victoria, Australia), September 8, 1870"
Information Location 2:	http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18747988
Information Source 3:	"Hugo Levinger convicted of manslaughter, West Coast Times, Issue 1173, June 26, 1869, p. 2"
Information Location 3:	http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=WCT18690626.2.10&dliv=&e=-------10--1----2--
Information Source 4:	"The Literary World -- Vol. IV - New Series. From July to December, 1871 (James Clarke & Col., London); Kidnapping In The South Seas, October 20, 1871, p. 244, esp. 245"
Information Location 4:	www.books.google.com
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Hugo Levinger

Charge:

Manslaughter

Sentence:

7 years

Years Imprisoned:

1.5

Year Crime:

1868

Year Convicted:

1869

Year Cleared:

1870

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Australia

County or Region of Crime:

Victoria

City of Crime:

Melbourne

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

The trial judge denied Levinger his right to remove a juror without cause by use of a peremptory challenge.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

Hugo Levinger v The Queen (Victoria) [1870] UKPC 46 (26 July 1870)

Information Location 1:

http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1870/1870_46.html

Information Source 2:

"The Case of Hugo Levinger, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (Victoria, Australia), September 8, 1870"

Information Location 2:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18747988

Information Source 3:

"Hugo Levinger convicted of manslaughter, West Coast Times, Issue 1173, June 26, 1869, p. 2"

Information Location 3:

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=WCT18690626.2.10&dliv=&e=-------10--1----2--

Information Source 4:

"The Literary World -- Vol. IV - New Series. From July to December, 1871 (James Clarke & Col., London); Kidnapping In The South Seas, October 20, 1871, p. 244, esp. 245"

Information Location 4:

www.books.google.com

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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