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Wrongly
Convicted Database
Record
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Years
Imprisoned:
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Charge: |
Brawling (including Affray) |
Sentence: |
Good behavior bond |
Year Convicted: |
2007 |
Year
Cleared:
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2008 |
Location
of Trial:
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Australia |
Result:
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Judicially Exonerated (either after completion of sentence or while released on appeal) |
Summary
of Case:
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One of the Bermagui Five co-defendants. Four of the defendants aboriginal were convicted in 2007 of affray (brawling) and one of affray and assault following a late-night fight that erupted when a group of white men in three cars set upon them in the front yard of the aboriginies homes at Bermagui on the NSW South Coast in October 2006. They were sentenced to good behavior bonds allowing their release provided on them not committing any other offenses. In December a New South Wales Supreme Court judge quashed all their convictions on the basis that their statements relied on to convict them were invalid because they were obtained in violation of rules intended to ensure the reliability of police statements by aborigines. |
Conviction
Caused By:
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Statements obtained by the police in violation of the law protecting aborigines from interrogation without an attorney present. |
Innocence
Proved By:
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New South Wales Supreme Court Justice overturned the convictions of all five co-defendants on the grounds that their statements relied on to convict them were invalid because they were obtained in violation of rules intended to ensure the reliability of police statements.
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Defendant
Aided By:
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Found? |
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Age
When Imprisoned:
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18 |
Age
When Released:
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Information Source 1: |
Convictions quashed because police broke rules, Sydney Morning-Herald, December 15, 2008 |
Information
Location 1:
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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/12/14/1229189446298.html?feed=fairfaxdigitalxml |
Information
Source 2:
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Police unfairly targeted Aborigines in racial brawl, court told, Sydney Morning-News, March 12, 2008 |
Information
Location 2:
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http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/police-unfairly-targeted-aborigines-in-racial-brawl-court-told/2008/03/11/1205125911488.html |
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Source 3:
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Location 3:
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Source 4:
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Location 4:
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Information
Source 5:
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Location 5:
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Ethnicity/Skin:
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Book
About
Case:
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Book
Information:
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Book About Case (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org