A bid by Catherine Nevin to have her conviction for the murder of her husband declared a miscarriage of justice has been adjourned to later this month by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Nevin (55) was convicted in April 2000 of the murder of her husband Tom at their pub, Jack White's Inn, Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow on March 19th, 1996.
She was also convicted on three counts of soliciting three different men to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990, six years before his murder. She is serving a life sentence on the murder charge and a concurrent seven year term on the soliciting charges.
In pursuit of her application under the Crime Procedure Act 1993, Nevin is seeking an order that the DPP disclose a range of material and documents which she claims is relevant to her claim of a miscarriage of justice.
Nevin claims that material not given to her lawyers at the time of her trial contains information casting doubt on the credibility and motivation of key prosecution witnesses in the case.
It is contended that the documents being sought, including material on the Dublin-Monaghan bombing and Garda security files on witnesses Gerry Heapes, John Jones and William McClean, are relevant and will assist her in undermining the credibility of the three men.
Nevin also claims the documents may also potentially undermine the credibility of another State witness at her trial, Patrick Russell.
The DPP is opposing to handing over the material and contends the issues being raised now had already been dealt with at Nevins' trial at the Central Criminal Court and during her appeal.
When the case was mentioned at the CCA today, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman adjourned it July 21st when the matter of fixing a hearing date will be considered.
After being informed Nevin was anxious to attend proceedings, the judge said there was no need for her to be present on July 21st.
The DPP has undertaken to give Nevin's legal team an affidavit outlining the DPP's response to the application for discovery by tomorrow evening.
Sean Gillane, for the DPP, said it was the DPP's contention that the issues relating to the documents which were being sought had been dealt with "in substance" at Nevins' trial and appeal.
Nevin's solicitor Anne Fitzgibbon told the court that she would need time to consider the DPP's affidavit.
Nevin's appeal against her conviction was dismissed in 2003 by the CCA.