Frederic Arthur Martens

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	5-1/2 years
Years Imprisoned:	2.58
Year Crime:	2001
Year Convicted:	2006
Year Cleared:	2009
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Australia
County or Region of Crime:	Queensland
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Frederic Arthur Martens was wrongly convicted on October 30, 2006 of raping a 14-year-old girl in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in September 2001. Martens was the first Australian convicted under Australia's child-sex tourism law enacted in 1994. The only evidence was the girl's testimony. The jury believed the girl's testimony in convicting Frederic Martens. He was sentenced to 5-1/2 years in prison, with a 3 year minimum. Martens' conviction was affirmed on direct appeal in April 2007. With Martens continuing to insist on his innocence, an investigation by The Courier-Mail newspaper in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, turned up the new evidence of an affidavit by a family member of the girl that she admitted in November 2003 that she made up the rape allegation at the urging of Martens ex-wife (at the time Martens and the woman were engaged in a custody dispute). Martens was an Australian pilot and he was able after his trial to obtain records from the Papua New Guinean Civil Aviation Authority that on the night of the alleged assault he was in Papua New Guinea's isolated Western Provinces, more than 1,000 km (more than 600 miles) from Port Moresby. In April 2009 the Queensland Attorney General recommended that Martens be granted a new trial, and in May 2009 he was released on bail. On November 13, 2009, the Queensland Court of Appeal in Brisbane issued its ruling that ''Because it has been demonstrated that (Martens') conviction was unreasonable, and cannot be supported by the evidence, the court should order that the conviction be quashed and the order of imprisonment be set aside." Martens was wrongly imprisoned for two years and seven months. In late November 2010 Martens filed a $45 million dollar lawsuit against the Australian government."
Conviction Caused By:	The alleged victim fabricated a non-existent rape at the urging of Martens former partner.
Innocence Proved By:	"On November 13, 2009 the Court of Appeal in Brisbane issued its ruling that ''Because it has been demonstrated that (Martens') conviction was unreasonable, and cannot be supported by the evidence, the court should order that the conviction be quashed and the order of imprisonment be set aside."
Defendant Aided By:	"An investigation by The Courier-Mail newspaper in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia turned up the new evidence of an affidavit the girl made up the rape allegation."
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	57
Age When Released:	60
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"R v Martens [2009] QCA 351 (13 Nov, 2009)"
Information Location 1:	http://www.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2009/QCA/351
Information Source 2:	"Pilot's sex conviction quashed, Brisbane Times, November 13, 2009"
Information Location 2:	http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/pilots-sex-conviction-quashed-20091113-iddv.html
Information Source 3:	"Pilot Frederic Martens has child sex conviction quashed, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Queensland), November 13, 2009"
Information Location 3:	"http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26344280-952,00.html"
Information Source 4:	"Pedophile Frederick Arthur Martens on a hunger strike, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Queensland), April 6, 2009"
Information Location 4:	"http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,25296856-3102,00.html"
Information Source 5:	"Man seeks payout after sex case quashed, By Evan Schwarten (staff), The Age (Melbourne), November 13, 2009"
Information Location 5:	http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/man-seeks-payout-after-sex-case-quashed-20091113-icov.html
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Frederic Arthur Martens

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

5-1/2 years

Years Imprisoned:

2.58

Year Crime:

2001

Year Convicted:

2006

Year Cleared:

2009

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Australia

County or Region of Crime:

Queensland

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

The alleged victim fabricated a non-existent rape at the urging of Martens former partner.

Innocence Proved By:

"On November 13, 2009 the Court of Appeal in Brisbane issued its ruling that ''Because it has been demonstrated that (Martens') conviction was unreasonable, and cannot be supported by the evidence, the court should order that the conviction be quashed and the order of imprisonment be set aside."

Defendant Aided By:

"An investigation by The Courier-Mail newspaper in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia turned up the new evidence of an affidavit the girl made up the rape allegation."

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

57

Age When Released:

60

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"R v Martens [2009] QCA 351 (13 Nov, 2009)"

Information Location 1:

http://www.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2009/QCA/351

Information Source 2:

"Pilot's sex conviction quashed, Brisbane Times, November 13, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/pilots-sex-conviction-quashed-20091113-iddv.html

Information Source 3:

"Pilot Frederic Martens has child sex conviction quashed, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Queensland), November 13, 2009"

Information Location 3:

"http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26344280-952,00.html"

Information Source 4:

"Pedophile Frederick Arthur Martens on a hunger strike, The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Queensland), April 6, 2009"

Information Location 4:

"http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,25296856-3102,00.html"

Information Source 5:

"Man seeks payout after sex case quashed, By Evan Schwarten (staff), The Age (Melbourne), November 13, 2009"

Information Location 5:

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/man-seeks-payout-after-sex-case-quashed-20091113-icov.html

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