Thomas Smart

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Charge:	Firearm related (including ammunition)
Sentence:	4 months suspended & 180 hrs community service
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	2008
Year Convicted:	2008
Year Cleared:	2009
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:	England
City of Crime:	Liverpool
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Thomas Smart was wrongly convicted in 2008 of possessing ammunition. His conviction was based on a report by the Forensic Science Service (FSS) that the police found a bullet in the room where he lived was live ammunition. The search was unrelated to anything Smart was alleged to have done. The 20-year-old Smart pled guilty when confronted with the FSS report that he could only counteract with his protestation of innocence. Smart was sentenced to a four month suspended jail sentence and 180 hours of community service -- which he completed. Smart's conviction was quashed in 2009 after the FSS admitted that it had mixed up up his £3 keyring taken from his room with a live bullet from another exhibit. Smart filed a compensation claim which was denied by a judge who ruled the FSS was protected by the legal immunity from civil negligence claims granted to witnesses and experts in criminal trials. Smart then filed a lawsuit seeking compensation, which his lawyer said, "If successful it looks like we'll be creating a precedent whereby a prosecution expert witness will be held liable to defend it [the evidence] in criminal proceedings." The lawsuit alleges crucial exhibit records were altered and that one member of staff either knew the "bullet" was not a live round or was "recklessly indifferent" to the truth."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	Smart's conviction was quashed in 2009 after the FSS admitted that it had mixed up up his £3 keyring taken from his room with a live bullet from another exhibit in the case.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	20
Age When Released:	20
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Man sues over forensics live bullet conviction mix-up, BBC News, June 7, 2013"
Information Location 1:	http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-22815259
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Thomas Smart

Charge:

Firearm related (including ammunition)

Sentence:

4 months suspended & 180 hrs community service

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2008

Year Convicted:

2008

Year Cleared:

2009

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

England

City of Crime:

Liverpool

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Smart's conviction was quashed in 2009 after the FSS admitted that it had mixed up up his £3 keyring taken from his room with a live bullet from another exhibit in the case.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

20

Age When Released:

20

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Man sues over forensics live bullet conviction mix-up, BBC News, June 7, 2013"

Information Location 1:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-22815259

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