John McGranaghan

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Charge:	Rape and Burglary
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	11
Year Crime:	1978
Year Convicted:	1981
Year Cleared:	1991
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:	Scotland
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Three women who were raped in different years positively identified John McGranaghan as their assailant. Police gave the three women subtle coaching, cues, or subtly led them to identify John McGranaghan. The three women were raped on May 14, 1978, December 12, 1979 and May 20, 1980. McGranaghan was arrested on September 16, 1980, and convicted of the three rapes and aggravated burglary in 1981. He was sentenced to life in prison. McGranaghan's conviction was upheld on appeal, but in 1990 he filed a petition to quash his conviction on the basis of new forensic evidence that he positively was not the source of the semen left by the assailant in the 1980 attack. McGranaghan's blood type was found to be different than that of the woman's assailant. The Court of Appeal analyzed the basis of McGranaghan's three convictions in light of the new forensic evidence, and on October 30, 1991 the Court of Appeal quashed his convictions. The charges were dismissed and McGranaghan was released after ten years of wrongful imprisonment. Although only 50, McGranaghan suffered a heart attack only seven months after his release. He survived, but in intervening years he experienced two additional heart attacks that he also survived."
Conviction Caused By:	False eyewitness identification by three different rape victims coached by the police to identify McGranaghan.
Innocence Proved By:	"Conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal on October 30, 1991."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	39
Age When Released:	50
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	Innocent UK website
Information Location 1:	http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/
Information Source 2:	R. v. McGranaghan (John) (10/30/1991)
Information Location 2:	https://www.lccsa.org.uk/r-v-mcgranaghan-john-1991/
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Book About Case:	"John McGranaghan's case is the subject of Appendix One to Bob Woffinden's 1997 book "Hanratty - The Final Verdict." The case is related in the book with reference to Valerie Storie's mistaken identification of James Hanratty."
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John McGranaghan

Charge:

Rape and Burglary

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

11

Year Crime:

1978

Year Convicted:

1981

Year Cleared:

1991

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

Scotland

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False eyewitness identification by three different rape victims coached by the police to identify McGranaghan.

Innocence Proved By:

"Conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal on October 30, 1991."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

39

Age When Released:

50

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

Innocent UK website

Information Location 1:

http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/

Information Source 2:

R. v. McGranaghan (John) (10/30/1991)

Information Location 2:

https://www.lccsa.org.uk/r-v-mcgranaghan-john-1991/

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Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

"John McGranaghan's case is the subject of Appendix One to Bob Woffinden's 1997 book "Hanratty - The Final Verdict." The case is related in the book with reference to Valerie Storie's mistaken identification of James Hanratty."

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: