Oct 20, 2011
Two Former Death Row Inmates to Speak at TCD
Peter Pringle and Sunny Jacobs will be speak at an event organised by the Trinity College Dublin Law Society on Monday next, 24th October. Dannie Hanna who has blogged about death penalty issues on HR in I will also be speaking about his experiences working on behalf of death row inmates in Texas.
Sunny Jacobs was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Florida. She spent 17 years in prison including 5 years in solitary confinement. She was exonerated on the basis of a confession by another person and another witness’ recantation. Her co-defendant Jesse Tafero, who was convicted on similar evidence, went to the electric chair. His execution became infamous for its macabre nature. For more info on Sunny see this factsheet prepared by the Centre for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University).
Peter Pringle was convicted in 1980 of murdering two gardaí and sentenced to death – the last time a person was sentenced to death in Ireland before it was removed from the statute books. This was later commuted to life imprisonment. The Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Pringle’s murder convcition and ordered a retrial. The judgment is reported at [1995] 2 IR 547. The DPP subsequently decided not proceed with another trial.
The event starts at 7pm on Monday 24th October in the Chamber of the Grand Memorial Building (GMB), TCD. It is sponsored by A and L Goodbody Solicitors.
