A Corkman who has served six years of a 22 year sentence for drugs offences had his conviction overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal today due to the failure of the trial judge to charge the jury in relation to the presumption of innocence and to the manner in which the case was presented to the jury by the trial judge.
The Court of Criminal Appeal also said a decision on whether there should be a retrial was for the Director of Public Prosecutions to make.
After his conviction was quashed, Edward "Judd" Scanlon, a father of three, of Laburnum Drive, Model Farm, Cork was released on his own bail of €1,000 and on his mother, Mary's independent surety of €10,000.
He had been convicted by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on March 4th, 1999 on two counts of possession of Ecstasy and Cocaine with intent to supply. He was later sentenced by Judge AG Murphy to two terms of imprisonment of 22 years, both sentences to run conconcurrently.
Yesterday, the court quashed the convictions on two points: the failure of the trial judge to charge the jury on the presumption of innocence — in spite of an request that he do so — and the manner in which the case was presented to the jury by the trial judge.