|
Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
|
Years
Imprisoned:
|
5.5 |
Charge: |
Manslaughter |
Sentence: |
10 yrs |
Year Convicted: |
1963 |
Year
Cleared:
|
2002 |
Location
of Trial:
|
Australia |
Result:
|
Judicially Exonerated (either after completion of sentence or while released on appeal) |
Summary
of Case:
|
John Button was wrongly convicted of manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend, Rosemary Anderson based on his police pressured false confession. Button was convicted of driving his car into his 17 year old girlfriend after an argument as she walked along a road. Serial killer Eric Cooke confessed to the crime in 1964, but both the police and the appeal court that heard Button's case believed that Button and not Cooke killed the woman. Mr. Button's protestations of innocence and attempts to clear his name were futile until 1992 when journalist-turned-author Estelle Blackburn met him and took up his cause. Tests decades after the death excluded Button's car as causing the death of his girlfriend, and on February 25, 2002 Button's conviction was quashed by the Chief Justice David Malcolm of the West Australian Court of Criminal Appeals. It was 39 years after her death. On April 9, 2003, Mr. Button, 59 yrs old, was offered $460,000 in compensation, the largest amount ever offered a wrongly convicted person in Western Australia. |
Conviction
Caused By:
|
False confession |
Innocence
Proved By:
|
An American expert, whose trip to Australia was financed by the editor of The Post, a suburban newspaper in Perth, convinced Chief Justice David Malcolm that Button's car was not the one that killed his girlfriend.
|
Defendant
Aided By:
|
Journalist turned author Estelle Blackburn |
Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Found? |
|
Age
When Imprisoned:
|
19 |
Age
When Released:
|
25 |
Information Source 1: |
Despite DNA testing, injustices will continue without proper investigation, Paul Wilson, 05-02-03 |
Information
Location 1:
|
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/2003/Feb03/Wilson.htm |
Information
Source 2:
|
Broken Lives by Estelle Blackburn, AUS |
Information
Location 2:
|
http://www.margaret-river-online.com.au/brokenlives/ |
Information
Source 3:
|
Man jailed for killing girlfiend cleared after 40 years, (AFP), Perth, AUS, Feb 25, 2002. |
Information
Location 3:
|
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/asia/au-7.html |
Information
Source 4:
|
Wrongly convicted murderer offered $460,000 payout, Sydney Morning Herald, April 9, 2003 |
Information
Location 4:
|
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/09/1049567730050.html |
Information
Source 5:
|
Button Was Not the Killer, Post Newspapers, Perth, Western Australia, February 2000 |
Information
Location 5:
|
http://www.margaret-river-online.com.au/brokenlives/report.htm |
Ethnicity/Skin:
|
White |
Book
About
Case:
|
Broken Lives by Estelle Blackburn, AUS |
Book
Information:
|
http://www.margaret-river-online.com.au/brokenlives/ |
Book About Case (2): |
|
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
Falsely confessed |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org