Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Lucky Shange

 

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

19

Year Crime:

1998

Year Convicted:

2000

Year Cleared:

2017

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

South Africa

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Durban

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Lucky Shange was wrongly convicted in 2000 of murder, robbery and possessing an unlicensed firearm in Durban, South Africa. Shange's prosecution was based on the 1998 murder of a Durban taxi driver, whose cab was found near Shange's residence. When questioned without a lawyer, the 18 year old Shange confessed, but he recanted that it was coerced by his police interrogators. Shange protested his innocence, but he was convicted based on his disputed confession. He was sentenced to life in prison. In 2014 Durban attorney Zimani Ncama agreed to represent Shange pro bono. He filed an appeal based on the legal violation that the magistrate who found Shange guilty failed to sit with assessors as required by the Magistrate's Court Act unless the requirement was waived by Shange -- which he did not do, and that Shange did not have legal representation throughout his trial. On May 4, 2017 South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously (5-0) quashed Shange's convictions and ordered his immediate release from prison. The Court's ruling stated: "In this matter, the appellant was not legally represented throughout the trial. And there is nothing on the record to suggest that he was ever made aware of the requirement that the regional magistrate sit with assessors or of his right to choose whether assessors assist with the trial. The regional magistrate nowhere recorded that he had made such a request. The appellant’s co-accused was legally represented but there is nothing to show that he was given any choice either. And the transcription of the trial and appearance pages state nowhere that she had sat with assessors. The State does not suggest that the section was not complied with. The requirement that a judicial officer sit with assessors is peremptory. Accordingly the court was not properly constituted.” "

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On May 4, 2017 South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal quashed Shange's convictions on the basis he had been wrongly convicted because the law was violated by the magistrate who convicted him by failing to sit with assessors."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

18

Age When Released:

37

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Durban man's conviction set aside after serving nearly 20 years in jail, By Tania Broughton, News24 Correspondent (Durban), News24.com, May 4, 2017"

Information Location 1:

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/durban-mans-conviction-set-aside-after-serving-nearly-20-years-in-jail-20170504

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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