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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment with 25 year minimum |
Years Imprisoned: |
20.5 |
Year Crime: |
1994 |
Year Convicted: |
1995 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Australia |
County or Region of Crime: |
South Australia |
City of Crime: |
Magill |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Henry Vincent Keogh was wrongly convicted in 1995 of murder in the drowning death of his 29-year-old fiancée Anna-Jane Cheney at their home the Magill suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia in March 1994. Henry Keogh was arrested on July 7, 1994. The prosecution's circumstantial case against Keogh was based on the testimony of forensic pathologist Dr Colin Manock that Cheney drowned by having her head held under water, because of bruising on her lower left leg. Keogh's defense was that when he arrived at the home he and Cheney shared, he found her lying on her side with her face under the water, and removed her from the tub and tried to resuscitate her. Keogh's trial in February 1995 ended in a mistrial because the jury couldn't arrive at a verdict. Keogh was retried, and after his conviction by a unanimous jury Henry Keogh was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years in prison before he was eligible for parole. In 2013 South Australia enacted a new law that allowed a post-conviction petition to be based on fresh and compelling evidence supporting the petitioner's innocence. In 2013 Keogh filed a petition for a new trial based on the new evidence that Dr Manock had changed his mind after Keogh's conviction and no longer opined the bruising was indicative Cheney had been held under water. In December 2014 the South Australia Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Keogh's conviction as a miscarriage of justice due to flawed forensic evidence presented by the prosecution at trial. A week later Keogh was released on bail pending the outcome of his case. The South Australia Director of Public Prosecutions had publicly announced that Keogh's retrial would begin in February 2016, but on November 12, 2015 the DPP entered a nolle prosequi against Keogh, which formally withdrew the case from the court list. Keog filed a compensation claim with the South Australian Government. On July 1, 2018 SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman announced it would award Keogh ex gratia compensation of AUS$2.5 million. (US$1,820,588 at exchange rate of AUS$1 to US$0.728235)" |
Conviction Caused By: |
Flawed expert forensic pathology evidence. |
Innocence Proved By: |
In December 2014 the South Australia Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Keogh's conviction as a miscarriage of justice due to flawed expert forensic cause of death evidence presented by the prosecution at trial. |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"AUS$2.5 million (South Australia, July 1, 2018) (US$1,820,588 at exchange rate of AUS$1 to US$0.728235.)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
39 |
Age When Released: |
59 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Henry Keogh released on bail after 20 years in jail on Anna-Jane Cheney murder conviction, By Candice Marcus (court reporter), ABC.net.au, Dec. 21, 2014" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-22/henry-keogh-on-bail-after-20-years-jail-cheney-murder-conviction/5983268 |
Information Source 2: |
"Murder charge against Henry Keogh, accused of drowning fiancee in bath, dropped by SA DPP, By Staff, ABC.net.au, Nov. 12, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-13/murder-charge-against-henry-keogh-dropped/6938622 |
Information Source 3: |
"Henry Keogh, Wikipedia.org" |
Information Location 3: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Keogh |
Information Source 4: |
"Henry Keogh to get $2.5 million settlement for overturned murder conviction, By Isabel Dayman and Eugene Boisvert, ABC.net.au, July 1, 2018" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-02/henry-keogh-to-be-paid-more-than-two-million/9931544 |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org