Gordon Wood

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	17 years
Years Imprisoned:	3.5
Year Crime:	1995
Year Convicted:	2008
Year Cleared:	2012
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Australia
County or Region of Crime:	New South Wales
City of Crime:	Sydney
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Gordon Wood was wrongly convicted in November 2008 of murdering his girlfriend Caroline Byrne whose body was found at the base of cliffs at The Gap, in Sydney, Australia, in the early hours of June 8, 1995. Eleven years after Byrne's death the police thought they had enough evidence she didn't commit suicide, but that he murdered her because she was going to leave him. An arrest warrant was issued and Wood's was arrested in 2006 in London, where he worked for a bank, and he was extradited to Australia. To refute the possibility Byrne committed suicide, key prosecution evidence at Wood's trial was the expert testimony of Associate Professor Rodney Cross that Byrne was launched from the cliff like a spear, and that she didn't jump. After his conviction by a jury, Wood was sentenced to 17 years in prison. On February 24, 2012 the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeals quashed Wood's conviction on the basis the prosecution presented insufficent evidence to prove his guilt beond a reasonable doubt and ordered Gordon Wood's acquittal. The Court found that Asst Prof. Cross' post-trial book about his work on the case and a lecture posted on his webiste suggested a pro-prosecution bias that if known by the jury would have "significantly diminished" his credibility. [Par. 715-717] The appeals court's 252-page written ruling is, Wood v R [2012] NSWCCA 21 (24 February 2012)."
Conviction Caused By:	Ex[ert testimony that lacked credibility.
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 24, 2012 the New South Wales Court of Appeals quashed Wood's conviction on the basis the prosecution presented insufficent evidence to prove his guilt beond a reasonable doubt and ordered Gordon Wood's acquittal."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	45
Age When Released:	48
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	Wood v R [2012] NSWCCA 21 (24 February 2012)
Information Location 1:	http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2012/21.html
Information Source 2:	"Gordon Wood acquitted of murdering Caroline Byrne, By Lisa Davies, Louise Hall and Paul Bibby, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 24, 2012"
Information Location 2:	http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/gordon-wood-acquitted-of-murdering-caroline-byrne-20120224-1tsiv.html
Information Source 3:	"Physics helps convict Gordon Wood of murder, By Katynna Gill, The University of Sydney, November 25, 2008"
Information Location 3:	http://sydney.edu.au/news/science/397.html?newsstoryid=2863
Information Source 4:	"Gordon Wood sentenced to 17 years in prison for throwing model girlfriend off a cliff, By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney, The Telegraph (London), December 4, 2008"
Information Location 4:	http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/3547856/Gordon-Wood-sentenced-to-17-years-in-prison-for-throwing-model-girlfriend-off-a-cliff.html
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Gordon Wood

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

17 years

Years Imprisoned:

3.5

Year Crime:

1995

Year Convicted:

2008

Year Cleared:

2012

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Australia

County or Region of Crime:

New South Wales

City of Crime:

Sydney

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Ex[ert testimony that lacked credibility.

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 24, 2012 the New South Wales Court of Appeals quashed Wood's conviction on the basis the prosecution presented insufficent evidence to prove his guilt beond a reasonable doubt and ordered Gordon Wood's acquittal."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

45

Age When Released:

48

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

Wood v R [2012] NSWCCA 21 (24 February 2012)

Information Location 1:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2012/21.html

Information Source 2:

"Gordon Wood acquitted of murdering Caroline Byrne, By Lisa Davies, Louise Hall and Paul Bibby, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 24, 2012"

Information Location 2:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/gordon-wood-acquitted-of-murdering-caroline-byrne-20120224-1tsiv.html

Information Source 3:

"Physics helps convict Gordon Wood of murder, By Katynna Gill, The University of Sydney, November 25, 2008"

Information Location 3:

http://sydney.edu.au/news/science/397.html?newsstoryid=2863

Information Source 4:

"Gordon Wood sentenced to 17 years in prison for throwing model girlfriend off a cliff, By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney, The Telegraph (London), December 4, 2008"

Information Location 4:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/3547856/Gordon-Wood-sentenced-to-17-years-in-prison-for-throwing-model-girlfriend-off-a-cliff.html

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