User:Serial Number 54129/Michael Connolly case: Difference between revisions
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==Background== |
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Michael Connolly, from [[Dundalk]].{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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{{Article for deletion/dated|page=South Derry Independent Republican Unit|timestamp=20190521162730|year=2019|month=May|day=21|substed=yes}} |
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{{infobox war faction |
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|name=South Derry Independent Republican Unit |
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|war=[[the Troubles]] |
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==IRA membership case== |
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|caption= |
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===16 December 2014: Arrest=== |
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|active=1973–1976 |
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During Connolly's Section 2 interviews,{{refn|This refers to section 2 of the [[Offences against the State Acts 1939–1998|Offences against the State Act, 1998]], which lays down the procedure for drawing inferences from silence while interrogating those accused of membership of illegal groups.{{sfn|OASA|1998}} The section states that when questioned after arrest—but prior to being charged—if the accused does not answer, then inferences may be drawn by the court with regard to their silence.{{sfn|Elsbernd|2000|p=274}}|group=note}} |
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|ideology=[[Irish Republicanism]], [[Revolutionary socialism]] |
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|leaders= [[Francis Hughes]] |
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|groups= |
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|headquarters= [[Bellaghy]] |
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|area=mainly south [[County Londonderry]], also north [[County Tyrone]], Northern Ireland |
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|strength= 1 [[active service unit]] |
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|partof= |
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|weapons= [[Assault rifle]], [[car bomb]], [[Hand gun]], [[Submachine gun]] |
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|opponents=[[British Army]], [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]], [[Economic warfare|Economic targets]].<br> }} |
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Connolly denied he was a member of the IRA.{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} |
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The '''South Derry Independent Republican Unit (SDIRU)''' was an independent [[Irish Republican]] [[active service unit|Active Service Unit]] in [[Northern Ireland]] during [[The Troubles]], that operated & carried out attacks around southern [[County Londonderry]] and sometimes they would patrol & operated around north west [[County Tyrone]] but not as much as in the Derry area. |
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O'Sullivan stated that, in his reasoned opinion, Connolly was a member of the IRA. He confirmed that his opinion was based on secret material from an intelligence file and that he did not believe it to overlap with evidence within the book of Evidence. O'Sullivan also confirmed that he had not seen the Book of Evidence regarding the case.{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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==Overview== |
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The SDIRU was formed by [[Irish Republican]]s and socialists from the south County Londonderry village of [[Bellaghy]]. |
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During the time the unit was active it was not a part any larger [[Irish Republicanism|Republican paramilitary]] like the [[Official IRA]], [[Provisional IRA]], or the [[Irish National Liberation Army|INLA known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from 1974 - 1976]]. The SDIRU was active from 1973 up until 1976 when the unit merged with the [[Provisional IRA Derry Brigade|Provisional IRA's South Derry brigade]]. While the SDIRU was active it carried out ambushes & sniper attacks on [[British Army]] patrols as well carrying out bomb attacks in neighbouring towns such as [[Magherafelt]], [[Castledawson]], and [[Maghera]]. <ref>[http://victims.org.uk/s08zhk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=364&Itemid=92 Victims.org.uk] - Face of Evil</ref> |
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Although the unit was in no way part of another paramilitary ot would borrow weapons from time to time from both the Official & Provo IRA, and if an operation was successful the SDIRU would claim the attack on behalf of which ever organizations weapons they used.<ref>http://irishistory.blogspot.com/2013/09/irish-republican-paramilitary-groups.html</ref> |
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===June 2017: Conviction=== |
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==Members== |
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Connolly was convicted before the non-jury{{sfn|O'Mahony|1996|p=32}} Special Criminal Court in Dublin in June 2017 on the charge of membership. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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Some members of the SDIRU went on to play a very big role in the [[The Troubles]]. |
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* For example, [[Francis Hughes]], who first joined the [[Official IRA]] left over that groups May 1972 ceasefire,then went on to became a legendary figure in the Provisional IRA for his exploits & shoot-outs with the British Army & RUC and was the second hunger striker to die after [[Bobby Sands]] during the [[1981 Hunger Strike]], Hughes began his hunger strike on the 15 March & died 59 days later on the 12 May 1981.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/12/newsid_2550000/2550725.stm</ref> |
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* Hughes formed the unit along with cousin [[Thomas McElwee]] who only would have been about 16 at the time. McElwee also took part in the 1981 Hunger Strike. He was the ninth hunger striker to die, after 62 days on hunger strike he died on the 8 August 1981, aged just 23 he was the youngest hunger striker to day out of the ten who evntually did die.<ref>Tirghra I nDil Chuimhne: Ireland's Patriot Dead pp.243</ref> |
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* [[Dominic McGlinchy]] was another member of the unit who would go on to make his own mark on the conflict, first a Volunteer in the Provisional IRA and then as leader of the [[Chief of Staff]] of the [[Irish National Liberation Army]] (INLA) in the early 1980s. Under McGlinchy's leadership the INLA enjoyed it's most successful military period. The INLA was at its most active under McGlinchy & two of the INLA's most famous attacks happened under his leadership, first the [[Droppin Well bombing]] in December 1982 in which 17 people were killed (11 British soldiers & 6 civilians) and in November 1983 the [[Darkley killings]] in which three armed INLA members using the cover name [[Catholic Reaction Force]] shot dead three worshippers inside a Pentecostal Church. McGlinchy admitted to being in some part responsible for these attacks.<ref>https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-dominic-mcglinchey-1393697.html</ref> McGlinchy was himself shot dead in [[County Louth]] in February 1994 by unknown killers.<ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1994.html Dominic McGlinchey assassination], cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 17 May 2019.</ref> |
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* Also part of the unit was [[Ian Milne]]. Milne along with Hughes & McGlinchy became the North's three most wanted men, and the RUC issued wanted posters for them. When the unit merged with PIRA South Derry Brigade the brigades activity dramatically increased, making it one of the most active brigades of the mid - late 1970s.<ref>http://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/15659</ref> |
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===26 June 2018: Conviction set aside=== |
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==Actions== |
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On 26 June{{sfn| the following year, the [[Court of Appeal in Ireland|Court of appeal]] overturned Connolly's conviction and ordered a trial, before a different panel of judges at the Special Security Court.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} The grounds upon which the appeal was upheld was the lack of discretion shown by the first court in disallowing a defence request to examine the intelligence file upon which O'Sullivan's opinion had been founded.{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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===1973=== |
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*4 January - A UDR soldier was shot dead outside his home in [[Feeny]], County Londonderry. |
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<ref>https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1973.html</ref> |
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===1974=== |
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*25 January - A UDR soldier was killed in a land mine attack while searching a field near [[Ballyronan]], County Londonderry. |
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*15 March a Protestant civilian was killed in a [[car bomb|lorry bomb]] blat at [[Magherafelt]], County Londonderry. |
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*18 April - A Catholic civilian was killed by a booby-trap bomb in farm near [[Moneymore]], County Londonderry. |
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*23 July - A corporal in the UDR, John Conley (43), was killed by a car bomb in [[Garvagh]], County Londonderry. |
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<ref>https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1974.html</ref> |
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== |
==2019: Retrial== |
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Held before the [[Special Criminal Court]], Dublin.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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*6 October - A RUC officer was killed in a bomb attack near [[Limavady]], County Londonderry. |
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<ref>https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1975.html</ref> |
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===1976=== |
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*5 January - A RUC officer was shot dead while on mobile patrol in [[Castledawson]]. |
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*22 January - A off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead while driving his firms minibus near [[Claudy]]. |
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*12 February - A RUC officer was shot dead while on foot patrol in Claudy. |
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*1 April - A off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead in his work place in Castledawson. |
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*2 April - A off-duty UDR soldier was shot while on his postal round and shortly after near [[Maghera]], County Londonderry. |
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*30 July - A off-duty UDR soldier was killed by a booby-trap bomb attached to his fathers gate in Moneymore. |
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<ref>https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1976.html</ref> |
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The defence, led by Hartnett SC, was instructed by Michael Finucane Solicitors.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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==See Also== |
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* [[South Armagh Republican Action Force]] |
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* [[Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang]] |
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* [[Catholic Reaction Force]] |
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* [[1975 Central Bar bombing]] |
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On 16 December 2019, Connolly pleaded not guilty to membership of a [[proscribed organisation]], "styling itself Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA".{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} |
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===Defence=== |
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{{PIRA}} |
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The prosecution alleged that Connolly had been observed driving as part of a [[convoy]] by the garda. When stopped, the other car was found with two [[homemade bomb]]s.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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{{INLA/IRSP}} |
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[[Category:Far-left politics in Ireland]] |
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Connolly was stated to have been "a significant part" of the IRA's plan.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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[[Category:Irish republican militant groups]] |
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[[Category:1973 in Northern Ireland]] |
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The defence requested the court to assess the material used by the Assistant Commissioner to come to the conclusion he did. As a result, the court ordered the defence be provided with a hitherto undisclosed document, related to Connolly's attendance in court; this formed part of the evidence that O'Sullivan used to make his decision.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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[[Category:1974 in Northern Ireland]] |
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[[Category:1975 in Northern Ireland]] |
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Addressing the IRA plan, Hartnett argued that no links had been established between Connolly and the [[materiel]] being transported, otherwise, he said Connolly "would have been charged with possession" (of explosives) rather than solely membership.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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[[Category:1976 in Northern Ireland]] |
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[[Category:Irish National Liberation Army]] |
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O'Sullivan based his assertion on, in part, confidential information, which he argued was protected as [[tradecraft]] and potentially relevant in future operations.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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[[Category:Irish republican militant groups]] |
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[[Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army]] |
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The judges, having examined the intelligence file, ordered the disclosure of two pieces of evidence, one of which was a summary of the events of 16 December 2014, including Connolly's activities and subsequent arrest and questioning.{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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[[Category:Official Irish Republican Army]] |
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[[Category:The Troubles in County Armagh]] |
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Connolly had acted "entirely consistently" with what the garda would have expected from a man in his position when arrested.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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[[Category:The Troubles in County Londonderry]] |
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===Prosecution=== |
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Connolly's retrial was heard before Mr Justice [[Paul Coffey (judge)|Paul Coffey]] presiding alongside Judges Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin and James Faughnan.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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O'Sullivan, argued Hartnett, had refused to answer "even the simplest" of their questions.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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The defence argued that O'Sullivan's opinion as Connolly's membership was not based on an impartial assessment of events prior to the 2014 trial, but also included material that had arisen as a result of the trial. This, they argued, breached guidelines against double counting.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}}{{refn|Local media informed readers that opinion evidence from a Garda officer not below the rank of Chief Superintendent "is routinely used" to obtain convictions in IRA membership cases.{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}}{{sfn|The Argus|2021}} Part of the OASA since 1972, Aogán Mulcahy of [[University College Dublin]]{{sfn|UCD|2021}} notes that "while this had to be corroborated by other evidence if the defendant denied membership of an unlawful organisation, 'the level of corroboration required was not very high'", quoting [[Michael Farrell (activist)|Michael Farrell]].{{sfn|Mulcahy|2002|p=235}}|group=note}} |
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Burns countered that, rather than merely rubber-stamping a subordinate's assertion of Connolly's membership, he had considered it on its own merits.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} Indeed, he said he had not seen the Book of Evidence and was ignorant of its contents.{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} The defence counsel, Hugh Hartnett, described O'Sullivan's opinion as weak,{{refn|The defence asserted that, because none of this material had been presented to the court, no judgement could be made on whether it was a strong or weak view; the court, with no evidence to the contrary, must automatically deem it a weak opinion.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}}|group=note}} and that, furthermore, the defence's ability to cross-examine him had been restricted by the Assistant Commissioner's reliance on protected information, some of which, Hartnett claimed, "should not have been made".{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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Likewise, the prosecution rested on more than just Sullivan's word but on other evidence, specifically the inferences to be drawn from Connolly's silence under questioning.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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The prosecution, led by Special Council [[Paul Burns (judge)|Paul Burns]], argued that their case rested on more than one line of evidence. Apart from the word of the Assistant Commissioner, there were the interrogations of 16 December, the inferences that could be drawn from Connolly's silence, and material evidence showing that Connolly had been witnessed in the company of known IRA men.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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===Judgment=== |
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Connolly had earlier been granted leave to seek [[compensation]] from the government for his 14-months' imprisonment, and his lawyers argued that his was a "classic case of miscarriage of justice".{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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Coffey's judgement, handed down electronically,{{sfn|The Argus|2021}}{{refn|Due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland|coronavirus pandemic in Ireland]], written judgments had been delivered by email since March 2019 with issues arising thereof also dealt with remotely.{{sfn|ILN|2021}} indicated the court found issue with the evidence of Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan's evidence. This, Coffey said, did not convince them that his evidence was sufficiently impartial of the evidence upon which the prosecution otherwise relied.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} The court was forced to examine the Assistant Commissioner's statement so detailedly, he said, so as to match the degree of ease with which it was accepted by the first court.{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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Coffey stated that "We cannot have the confidence that we would need beyond a reasonable doubt that the Assistant Commissioner did not base his belief on the events of December 16". {{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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It was the prosecution's duty, when using police evidence in such a way, to ensure that they could prove the officer in question understood the double-counting guideline.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} In this particular case, stated Coffey, there was no indication to show that O'Sullivan's testimony was independent of the garda's own Book of Evidence, and that the possibility of an overlap between public and private evidence could not be discounted.{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} O'Sullivan's statement to the original court—that he had no knowledge of the material evidence against Connolly—had allowed the court to falsely believe that double-counting could not have occurred. While this did not rise to the level of misleading the court{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}}—they noted that, not having viewed the contents of the evidence book, he could not have deliberately misled the court{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}}—the prosecution had had the opportunity to re-present O'Sullivan and explain his reasons for over-reliance on the intelligence files, "unhappily no application was made" to this end.{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} It was, however, careless of O'Sullivan not to have ascertained the contents of the Book of Evidence beforehand, in order to satisfy himself as to any overlap, particularly as he "knew or ought to have known" how important, evidentially, the date of 14 December 2014 was.{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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Likewise, while section 2 allows the court to draw inferences from the witness' silence, in this case, the court ruled that the questions raised to Connolly were too indiscriminate to indicate a pattern in his silence.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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The court considered it likely that, had the original judges been aware of the possibility of evidence having been presented twice, as was now considered to have happened, then they would probably have acquitted Connolly in the first place.{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} |
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Coffey described O'Sullivan's evidence as "seriously incomplete and misleading".{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} The serious extent to which justice had been misapplied, said Coffey, "constitutes a miscarriage of justice"{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} brought about by "agents of the state".{{sfn|Longford{{nbsp}}Leader|2021}} |
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Although Coffey authorised the release of a certificate of miscarriage of justice,{{sfn|The Argus|2021}} he emphasised that this was not a case in which newly discovered evidence changes the appearance of a conviction or establishes innocence or guilt. The fact remained, he said, that there existed "a body of circumstantial evidence which tended to implicate" Connolly in the IRA convoy.{{sfn|Reynolds|2021}} |
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==Release== |
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After a year on trial, and two years after his original conviction, Connolly was freed on the morning of 24 June 2019.{{sfn|O'Riordan|2019}} |
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==Implications== |
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{{Quotebox|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|quote=|source=|align=right|width=25em}} |
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== Notes == |
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{{reflist|group=note}} |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist|20em}} |
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=== Bibliography === |
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{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} |
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* {{cite web |last1=OASA|year=1998 |title=Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1998 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1998/act/39/section/2/enacted/en/html#sec2 |website=Irish Statute Book |access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.is/wip/HkcWL |archive-date=22 April 2021}} |
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* {{cite journal |last1=Elsbernd|first1=S. R.|title='Draconian' Yet Constitutional: The Republic of Ireland's Offences Against the State Act (1998) |journal=Hastings International and Comparative Law Review |date=2000 |volume=23 |pages=261–278 |oclc=818986638}} |
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* {{cite web |last1=Irish Legal News |title=Court Judgments to Be Handed Down via Email During Coronavirus Outbreak |url=https://www.irishlegal.com/article/court-judgments-to-be-handed-down-via-email-during-coronavirus-outbreak |website=Irish Legal News |access-date=24 April 2014 |ref={{harvid|ILN|2021}}|archive-url=https://archive.is/Or7zL |archive-date=24 April 2014}} |
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* {{cite news |last1=Longford Leader |title=Man who spent 14 Months in Prison for IRA Membership has Conviction Declared Miscarriage of Justice |url=https://www.longfordleader.ie/news/national/624220/man-who-spent-14-months-in-prison-for-ira-membership-has-conviction-declared-miscarriage-of-justice.html |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=Longford Leader |date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.is/wip/aktVN |archive-date=12 April 2021}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Mulcahy|first=A.|editor-last=O'Mahony|editor-first=P.|title=Criminal Justice in Ireland|year=2002|publisher=Institute of Public Administration|location=Dublin|isbn=978-1-90244-871-8|pages=285–296|chapter=The Impact of the Northern "Troubles" on Criminal Justice on the Irish Republic}} |
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* {{cite web |last1=UCD |title=Bio |url=https://people.ucd.ie/aogan.mulcahy |website=University College Dublin |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.is/wip/j5LpY |archive-date=23 April 2021 |date=2021}} |
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* {{cite book|last=O'Mahony|first=P.|title=Criminal Chaos: Seven Crises in Irish Criminal Justice|year=1996|publisher=Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell|location=Dublin|isbn=978-1-89973-840-3}} |
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* {{cite news |last1=O'Riordan |first1=A. |title=Louth Man Acquitted of IRA Membership After Judges Ruling |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30932728.html |access-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://archive.is/wip/W0e77|work=Irish Examiner |date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2021}} |
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* {{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=P. |title=Miscarriage of Justice Declared in Case of Man Who Spent 14 Months in Prison |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0412/1209298-miscarriage-of-justice-michael-connolly/ |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=RTÉ |date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.is/wip/TCtPs |archive-date=12 April 2021}} |
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* {{cite news |last1=The Argus |title=Conviction Declared a Miscarriage of Justice After 'grave Defect' in Administration by Agents of State |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/argus/news/conviction-declared-a-miscarriage-of-justice-after-grave-defect-in-administration-by-agents-of-state-40326790.html |access-date=24 April 2021 |work=The Argus |date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.is/IhrUT |archive-date=24 April 2021}} |
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Latest revision as of 20:01, 16 March 2022
Background
[edit]Michael Connolly, from Dundalk.[1]
IRA membership case
[edit]16 December 2014: Arrest
[edit]During Connolly's Section 2 interviews,[note 1]
Connolly denied he was a member of the IRA.[4]
O'Sullivan stated that, in his reasoned opinion, Connolly was a member of the IRA. He confirmed that his opinion was based on secret material from an intelligence file and that he did not believe it to overlap with evidence within the book of Evidence. O'Sullivan also confirmed that he had not seen the Book of Evidence regarding the case.[5]
June 2017: Conviction
[edit]Connolly was convicted before the non-jury[6] Special Criminal Court in Dublin in June 2017 on the charge of membership. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.[1]
26 June 2018: Conviction set aside
[edit]On 26 June{{sfn| the following year, the Court of appeal overturned Connolly's conviction and ordered a trial, before a different panel of judges at the Special Security Court.[1] The grounds upon which the appeal was upheld was the lack of discretion shown by the first court in disallowing a defence request to examine the intelligence file upon which O'Sullivan's opinion had been founded.[5]
2019: Retrial
[edit]Held before the Special Criminal Court, Dublin.[1]
The defence, led by Hartnett SC, was instructed by Michael Finucane Solicitors.[1]
On 16 December 2019, Connolly pleaded not guilty to membership of a proscribed organisation, "styling itself Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA".[1]
Defence
[edit]The prosecution alleged that Connolly had been observed driving as part of a convoy by the garda. When stopped, the other car was found with two homemade bombs.[1]
Connolly was stated to have been "a significant part" of the IRA's plan.[1]
The defence requested the court to assess the material used by the Assistant Commissioner to come to the conclusion he did. As a result, the court ordered the defence be provided with a hitherto undisclosed document, related to Connolly's attendance in court; this formed part of the evidence that O'Sullivan used to make his decision.[1]
Addressing the IRA plan, Hartnett argued that no links had been established between Connolly and the materiel being transported, otherwise, he said Connolly "would have been charged with possession" (of explosives) rather than solely membership.[1]
O'Sullivan based his assertion on, in part, confidential information, which he argued was protected as tradecraft and potentially relevant in future operations.[1]
The judges, having examined the intelligence file, ordered the disclosure of two pieces of evidence, one of which was a summary of the events of 16 December 2014, including Connolly's activities and subsequent arrest and questioning.[5]
Connolly had acted "entirely consistently" with what the garda would have expected from a man in his position when arrested.[1]
Prosecution
[edit]Connolly's retrial was heard before Mr Justice Paul Coffey presiding alongside Judges Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin and James Faughnan.[1]
O'Sullivan, argued Hartnett, had refused to answer "even the simplest" of their questions.[1]
The defence argued that O'Sullivan's opinion as Connolly's membership was not based on an impartial assessment of events prior to the 2014 trial, but also included material that had arisen as a result of the trial. This, they argued, breached guidelines against double counting.[1][note 2]
Burns countered that, rather than merely rubber-stamping a subordinate's assertion of Connolly's membership, he had considered it on its own merits.[1] Indeed, he said he had not seen the Book of Evidence and was ignorant of its contents.[4] The defence counsel, Hugh Hartnett, described O'Sullivan's opinion as weak,[note 3] and that, furthermore, the defence's ability to cross-examine him had been restricted by the Assistant Commissioner's reliance on protected information, some of which, Hartnett claimed, "should not have been made".[1]
Likewise, the prosecution rested on more than just Sullivan's word but on other evidence, specifically the inferences to be drawn from Connolly's silence under questioning.[1]
The prosecution, led by Special Council Paul Burns, argued that their case rested on more than one line of evidence. Apart from the word of the Assistant Commissioner, there were the interrogations of 16 December, the inferences that could be drawn from Connolly's silence, and material evidence showing that Connolly had been witnessed in the company of known IRA men.[1]
Judgment
[edit]Connolly had earlier been granted leave to seek compensation from the government for his 14-months' imprisonment, and his lawyers argued that his was a "classic case of miscarriage of justice".[5]
Coffey's judgement, handed down electronically,[7]{{refn|Due to the coronavirus pandemic in Ireland, written judgments had been delivered by email since March 2019 with issues arising thereof also dealt with remotely.[10] indicated the court found issue with the evidence of Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan's evidence. This, Coffey said, did not convince them that his evidence was sufficiently impartial of the evidence upon which the prosecution otherwise relied.[1] The court was forced to examine the Assistant Commissioner's statement so detailedly, he said, so as to match the degree of ease with which it was accepted by the first court.[5]
Coffey stated that "We cannot have the confidence that we would need beyond a reasonable doubt that the Assistant Commissioner did not base his belief on the events of December 16". [1]
It was the prosecution's duty, when using police evidence in such a way, to ensure that they could prove the officer in question understood the double-counting guideline.[1] In this particular case, stated Coffey, there was no indication to show that O'Sullivan's testimony was independent of the garda's own Book of Evidence, and that the possibility of an overlap between public and private evidence could not be discounted.[4] O'Sullivan's statement to the original court—that he had no knowledge of the material evidence against Connolly—had allowed the court to falsely believe that double-counting could not have occurred. While this did not rise to the level of misleading the court[4]—they noted that, not having viewed the contents of the evidence book, he could not have deliberately misled the court[5]—the prosecution had had the opportunity to re-present O'Sullivan and explain his reasons for over-reliance on the intelligence files, "unhappily no application was made" to this end.[4] It was, however, careless of O'Sullivan not to have ascertained the contents of the Book of Evidence beforehand, in order to satisfy himself as to any overlap, particularly as he "knew or ought to have known" how important, evidentially, the date of 14 December 2014 was.[5]
Likewise, while section 2 allows the court to draw inferences from the witness' silence, in this case, the court ruled that the questions raised to Connolly were too indiscriminate to indicate a pattern in his silence.[1]
The court considered it likely that, had the original judges been aware of the possibility of evidence having been presented twice, as was now considered to have happened, then they would probably have acquitted Connolly in the first place.[4]
Coffey described O'Sullivan's evidence as "seriously incomplete and misleading".[5] The serious extent to which justice had been misapplied, said Coffey, "constitutes a miscarriage of justice"[4] brought about by "agents of the state".[5]
Although Coffey authorised the release of a certificate of miscarriage of justice,[7] he emphasised that this was not a case in which newly discovered evidence changes the appearance of a conviction or establishes innocence or guilt. The fact remained, he said, that there existed "a body of circumstantial evidence which tended to implicate" Connolly in the IRA convoy.[4]
Release
[edit]After a year on trial, and two years after his original conviction, Connolly was freed on the morning of 24 June 2019.[1]
Implications
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ This refers to section 2 of the Offences against the State Act, 1998, which lays down the procedure for drawing inferences from silence while interrogating those accused of membership of illegal groups.[2] The section states that when questioned after arrest—but prior to being charged—if the accused does not answer, then inferences may be drawn by the court with regard to their silence.[3]
- ^ Local media informed readers that opinion evidence from a Garda officer not below the rank of Chief Superintendent "is routinely used" to obtain convictions in IRA membership cases.[5][7] Part of the OASA since 1972, Aogán Mulcahy of University College Dublin[8] notes that "while this had to be corroborated by other evidence if the defendant denied membership of an unlawful organisation, 'the level of corroboration required was not very high'", quoting Michael Farrell.[9]
- ^ The defence asserted that, because none of this material had been presented to the court, no judgement could be made on whether it was a strong or weak view; the court, with no evidence to the contrary, must automatically deem it a weak opinion.[1]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- OASA (1998). "Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1998". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- Elsbernd, S. R. (2000). "'Draconian' Yet Constitutional: The Republic of Ireland's Offences Against the State Act (1998)". Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. 23: 261–278. OCLC 818986638.
- Irish Legal News. "Court Judgments to Be Handed Down via Email During Coronavirus Outbreak". Irish Legal News. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- Longford Leader (12 April 2021). "Man who spent 14 Months in Prison for IRA Membership has Conviction Declared Miscarriage of Justice". Longford Leader. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- Mulcahy, A. (2002). "The Impact of the Northern "Troubles" on Criminal Justice on the Irish Republic". In O'Mahony, P. (ed.). Criminal Justice in Ireland. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. pp. 285–296. ISBN 978-1-90244-871-8.
- UCD (2021). "Bio". University College Dublin. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- O'Mahony, P. (1996). Criminal Chaos: Seven Crises in Irish Criminal Justice. Dublin: Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN 978-1-89973-840-3.
- O'Riordan, A. (24 June 2019). "Louth Man Acquitted of IRA Membership After Judges Ruling". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- Reynolds, P. (12 April 2021). "Miscarriage of Justice Declared in Case of Man Who Spent 14 Months in Prison". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- The Argus (24 April 2021). "Conviction Declared a Miscarriage of Justice After 'grave Defect' in Administration by Agents of State". The Argus. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.