Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Murdo Smith

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

25 years to life in prison

Years Imprisoned:

3

Year Crime:

2002

Year Convicted:

2004

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Wrongly convicted in 2004 of being involved in the drug trade when in 2002 traces of heroin were found on £81,300 (approx. US$160,000) in banknotes he had hidden in his Aberdeen, Scotland home. The 50-year-old Murdo Smith's defense was that he had saved the money, didn't like banks, and he had nothing to do with the drug trade. No illegal drugs, traces of drugs, or drug paraphernalia were found in Smith's home, and no one testified that Smith was involved in the drug trade. The prosecution's case was entirely circumstantial based on the drug tainted money. Smith's conviction was by the jury's majority vote. Smith was sentenced to five years in prison. On appeal Scotland's Court of Appeal in Edinburgh quashed his conviction in February 2008, on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. Murdo Smith was wrongly imprisoned for three years. Although there was no evidence the money came from the drug trade, after Smith's exoneration, the UK's Civil Recovery Unit seized $171,000 from him in a forfeiture action based on the assumption the money was drug tainted money."

Conviction Caused By:

"Police and prosecutors assumed without evidence that cash found in Smith's home was the result of drug sales, and disregarded evidence that he saved it from working on offshore oil rigs."

Innocence Proved By:

"On appeal the UK's Court of Appeal quashed his conviction in February 2008, on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. "

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

50

Age When Released:

54

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Drug money' conviction quashed, BBC News, February 7, 2008"

Information Location 1:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/7232782.stm

Information Source 2:

"Oil Worker Cleared Of Trafficking Heroin, The Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), February 8, 2008"

Information Location 2:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/02/08/oil-worker-cleared-of-trafficking-heroin-86908-20312294/

Information Source 3:

"Quashed conviction money seized, BBC News, July 9, 2008"

Information Location 3:

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Information Location 5:

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

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