An application by a former nun, Ms Nora Wall, for a certificate declaring a miscarriage of justice arising from her quashed conviction on a charge of rape is expected to be heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal early next year.
If Ms Wall secures a certificate declaring a miscarriage of justice, she may then pursue a claim for damages against the State.
Mr Noel Whelan, for the DPP, told the three-judge court yesterday that the DPP would be filing an affidavit in the case. However, no indication was given as to what attitude the DPP might adopt towards Ms Wall's application.
Mr Luan Ó Braonáin, for Ms Wall, said there may be a request for disclosure by his client, but his side wished to see the DPP's affidavit before that.
Mr Justice Geoghegan, presiding, and sitting with Mr Justice Kelly and Mr Justice Abbott, said he would adjourn the matter to January.
The application for a certificate declaring a miscarriage of justice arises following the decision of the DPP in November 1999 to accept "fully and ungrudgingly" that Ms Wall and Mr Paul "Pablo" McCabe were entitled to be presumed innocent of all charges brought against them.
The court was also told that the DPP very much regretted "the errors which occurred in relation to the handling of this case by the prosecution".
The court had quashed the convictions of both Ms Wall and Mr McCabe in July 1999 following a number of errors in their trial in June 1999.
At the close of that trial, both were convicted of the rape of a 12-year-old girl in St Michael's Child Care Centre in Waterford in 1990. Mr McCabe, a homeless man, was arrested in October 1996 and charged with the rape of the girl. Ms Wall, formerly Sister Dominic, was also charged. Both denied the charges. Ms Wall was sentenced to life imprisonment and Mr McCabe was jailed for 12 years.
A notice of appeal was immediately lodged.
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