The Court of Criminal Appeal has quashed the conviction of a Dublin man jailed for 15 years for having heroin valued at € 65,000. Harry Melia was yesterday freed on bail pending his retrial.
Mr Melia (52), of Park Place, Chapelizod, Dublin, was convicted by a jury after a seven-day trial on four charges arising out of having heroin at Conyngham Road, Islandbridge, on August 28th, 2004. He was jailed last February for a total of 15 years by Judge Donagh McDonagh sitting at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
His appeal was heard by the three-judge CCA yesterday. It granted the appeal after finding the trial judge misdirected himself in law and erred in accepting a verdict from the jury prior to deciding on requisitions from counsel regarding his charge to the jury.
Ms Justice Fidelma Macken, presiding, and sitting with Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan and Mr Justice Roderick Murphy, said the appeal court was dealing with a "most unusual situation" in this case.
This arose from the fact that the jury had returned with its verdict at a time when the trial judge was still hearing requisitions from counsel in relation to his charge and prior to his deciding on those requisitions.
The CCA found the trial judge misdirected himself in law in accepting the jury's verdict without first deciding on the requisitions put to him. The "fundamental principle" involved was that there must be fairness in all aspects of the trial process and that process had not concluded as long as there were requisitions which had not been ruled upon.
The trial judge should have told the jury there were matters before him which had to be decided and it was therefore inappropriate to accept a verdict at that point, Ms Justice Macken said. He should then have decided on the requisitions put to him.
The CCA could not speculate on what the trial judge might have done had he completed the hearing of the requisitions and decided upon them, Ms Justice Macken said.
In those circumstances, the CCA concluded the verdict was unsafe, she said.