Peter Pringle

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Charge:	Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life
Years Imprisoned:	15
Year Crime:	1980
Year Convicted:	1980
Year Cleared:	1995
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Ireland
County or Region of Crime:	Roscommon
City of Crime:	Ballaghaderreen
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Peter Pringle was wrongly convicted in 1980 of murdering two policemen during a bank raid in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon. He was also convicted of armed robbery. His prosecution and conviction on November 27, 1980 was based on what the prosecution argued was his confession to the police. During his 23 day trial the prosecution argued he was a member of a radical faction of the Irish Republican Army. He was sentenced to death for the murders and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the armed robberies. His June 6, 1981 death sentence by hanging was commuted by the Irish president to a 40-year prison sentence. Acting pro se Pringle filed a lawsuit in 1992 for a discovery order for access to the police files in his case. Several years later he was provided with the files and Pringle discovered his alleged confession had actually been written down in a police officer's notebook prior to Pringle's interrogation about the killings. Based on that new evidence Pringle's conviction was quashed and a retrial was ordered. The prosecution declined to retry him, and he was released in 1995. Pringle was the last person sentenced to death in Ireland. in 1997 Ireland's Court of Criminal Appeal refused to grant Pringle's petition for his conviction to be declared a miscarriage of justice. Ireland's Supreme Court affirmed that ruling, stating that the quashing of his conviction did not on its own entitle him to a certificate his conviction was a miscarriage of justice. However, the Supreme Court did remand his case back to the CCA to renew his application. Pringle then instituted proceedings for compensation."
Conviction Caused By:	Police misconduct of manufacturing a fake confession.
Innocence Proved By:	"His June 8, 1981 death sentence by hanging was commuted by the Irish president and his conviction was quashed and he was released in 1995 after evidence emerged that his 'confession' was written by the police before he'd even been interviewed about the killings."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	43
Age When Released:	58
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	People (DPP) v Pringle [1995] 2 I.R. 547
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Extraordinary couple weds after each spent more than 15 years in prison on murder charges before being exonerated, By David Gardner (staff), Daily Mail (London, UK), November 22, 2011"
Information Location 2:	http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2064904/Sonia-Jacobs-Peter-Pringle-Exonerated-couple-marry-15-years-Death-Row.html
Information Source 3:	"Peter Pringle Talking about his conviction and death sentence, Youtube.com"
Information Location 3:	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzZD7lxsDu8
Information Source 4:	"Two exonerated death row inmates discuss their life-changing ordeals, By Courtney Potts (staff), Cornell Chronicle, March 10, 2005"
Information Location 4:	http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/05/3.10.05/exonerated_panel.html
Information Source 5:
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Peter Pringle

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life

Years Imprisoned:

15

Year Crime:

1980

Year Convicted:

1980

Year Cleared:

1995

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Ireland

County or Region of Crime:

Roscommon

City of Crime:

Ballaghaderreen

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Police misconduct of manufacturing a fake confession.

Innocence Proved By:

"His June 8, 1981 death sentence by hanging was commuted by the Irish president and his conviction was quashed and he was released in 1995 after evidence emerged that his 'confession' was written by the police before he'd even been interviewed about the killings."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

43

Age When Released:

58

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

People (DPP) v Pringle [1995] 2 I.R. 547

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Extraordinary couple weds after each spent more than 15 years in prison on murder charges before being exonerated, By David Gardner (staff), Daily Mail (London, UK), November 22, 2011"

Information Location 2:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2064904/Sonia-Jacobs-Peter-Pringle-Exonerated-couple-marry-15-years-Death-Row.html

Information Source 3:

"Peter Pringle Talking about his conviction and death sentence, Youtube.com"

Information Location 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzZD7lxsDu8

Information Source 4:

"Two exonerated death row inmates discuss their life-changing ordeals, By Courtney Potts (staff), Cornell Chronicle, March 10, 2005"

Information Location 4:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/05/3.10.05/exonerated_panel.html

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

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