Appeals
Shields conducted two unsuccessful appeals under Bulgarian jurisdiction in 2004 and 2005 on procedural grounds relating to the original trial. The 2006 appeal saw his prison sentence cut from 15 to 10 years, but his fine increased to £71,000 and his challenge for a retrial denied. No new evidence was introduced during the appeal and the facts of the original case were supported by existing evidence. The testimony of number of friends of Shields and the confession of Graham Sankey were dismissed as being biased towards helping to free Shields regardless of facts, inconsistent and inaccurate with Sankey incorrectly describing the weapon used in the attack as a paving slab (...a stone with irregular shape and not a pavement slab... according to police forensic reports). Following Bulgaria's accession to the EU on 1 January 2007, Shields again launched an appeal against his conviction at European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, again on procedural grounds on the allegation that his rights were violated during his trial and conviction in Bulgaria. The court found against Shields, and he was returned to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence. No court found any fault in police or judicial process - under both European and Bulgarian law - related to Shields's arrest, detention, trial and conviction that warranted a retrial.
Read more about this topic: Conviction Of Michael Shields
Famous quotes containing the word appeals:
“Whatever appeals to the imagination, by transcending the ordinary limits of human ability, wonderfully encourages and liberates us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“If tragedy elicits our compassion, comedy appeals to our self-interest. The former confronts life’s failures with noble fortitude, the latter seeks to circumvent them with shrewd nonchalance. The one leaves us momentarily in a mood of resignation, the other in a condition of euphoria.”
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“We tried pathetic appeals to the wandering waiters, who told us “they are coming, Sir” in a soothing tone—and we tried stern remonstrance, & they then said “they are coming, Sir” in a more injured tone; & after all such appeals they retired into their dens, and hid themselves behind sideboards and dish-covers, still the chops came not. We agreed that of all virtues a waiter can display, that of a retiring disposition is quite the least desirable.”
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