Michael Smith (NZL Defendant)

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Charge:	Child/Minor Sex Abuse (incl. molestation)
Sentence:	6 years
Years Imprisoned:	1.25
Year Crime:
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	1996
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New Zealand
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Michael Smith* was wrongly convicted in 1995 of sexually abusing his sons, then both under 12-years-old after they were nagged into making false accusation on video against their father by a family counselor. Smith's sons retracted their assertions within 48 hours of making them, but their father's lawyer wasn't told and he man was wrongly convicted and spent 14-1/2 months in prison before his conviction was quashed in 1996 by New Zealand's Court of Appeal. In 1998 New Zealand's Cabinet issued guidelies for the ex gratia payment to persons wrongly convicted, with the starting point of $100,000 for every year a person or part of a year the person spent in prison plus expenses such as legal fees. In September 2000 Smith became the first person awarded compensation under the 1998 guidelines when he was awarded $570,696 in compensation by the New Zealand government: $400,000 for Smith and $170,696 in legal fees. The man's parents almost bankrupted themselves, and even mortgaged their home to pay a lawyer $50,000 for "Michael's appeal. It was revealed in November 1997 that another man, Andrew Craig, had been imprisoned as the actual abuser, and that the three years he had abused the man's children included time that "Michael" was in prison. The son said he initially agreed to falsely accuse his father as a way of getting back at him for disciplining him for "being naughty." [* Michael Smith is a pseudonym used by the father to protect the identity of the two boys from public disclosure, and he was only identified as "M" by the appeals court.]"
Conviction Caused By:	False accusation of sexual abuse by a father's two sons who had retracted their claim less than 48 hours after making it.
Innocence Proved By:	Retraction of false accusation of sexual abuse.
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"NZL$570,696 in 2000"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	34
Age When Released:	35
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	""Man given compensation for wrongful conviction," NZPA, The Evening Post, Sept. 4, 2000, p. 8."
Information Location 1:	http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/2000-0904_EveningPost_ManGivenCompensationForWrongfulConviction.htm
Information Source 2:	""Landmark payout for years in hell," Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times, Sept. 3, 2000, p. 1"
Information Location 2:	http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/2000-0903_SundayStarTimes_LandmarkPayoutForYearsInHell.htm
Information Source 3:	""Freed man seeks $300,000," Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times, Feb. 22, 1998, p. 3."
Information Location 3:	http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/1998-0222_SundayStarTimes_FreedManSeeks300000.htm
Information Source 4:	""Wrongly jailed dad: I want molester to go through hell," Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times, Nov. 30, 1997, p. 1."
Information Location 4:	http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/1997-1130_SundayStarTimes_WronglyJailedDad-IWantMolesterToGoThroughHell.htm
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Michael Smith (NZL Defendant)

Charge:

Child/Minor Sex Abuse (incl. molestation)

Sentence:

6 years

Years Imprisoned:

1.25

Year Crime:

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

1996

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New Zealand

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

False accusation of sexual abuse by a father's two sons who had retracted their claim less than 48 hours after making it.

Innocence Proved By:

Retraction of false accusation of sexual abuse.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"NZL$570,696 in 2000"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

34

Age When Released:

35

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

""Man given compensation for wrongful conviction," NZPA, The Evening Post, Sept. 4, 2000, p. 8."

Information Location 1:

http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/2000-0904_EveningPost_ManGivenCompensationForWrongfulConviction.htm

Information Source 2:

""Landmark payout for years in hell," Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times, Sept. 3, 2000, p. 1"

Information Location 2:

http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/2000-0903_SundayStarTimes_LandmarkPayoutForYearsInHell.htm

Information Source 3:

""Freed man seeks $300,000," Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times, Feb. 22, 1998, p. 3."

Information Location 3:

http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/1998-0222_SundayStarTimes_FreedManSeeks300000.htm

Information Source 4:

""Wrongly jailed dad: I want molester to go through hell," Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times, Nov. 30, 1997, p. 1."

Information Location 4:

http://www4.wave.co.nz/~brianr/Cases/Michael/1997-1130_SundayStarTimes_WronglyJailedDad-IWantMolesterToGoThroughHell.htm

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

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Book Information (2):

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