The High Court has refused an application by convicted murderer Anthony Buck for release from Portlaoise Prison based on a later Supreme Court ruling about access to solicitors during Garda detention.
Buck was convicted in the Central Criminal Court in February 1998 of murder and robbery following a three-week trial. He received life imprisonment for murder and 12 years for robbery.
His case concerned Garda questioning after his arrest. Buck requested a solicitor during detention but questioning continued while efforts were made to obtain one. His solicitor arrived at 8.33pm. The trial judge later accepted the solicitor's evidence that Buck had been advised he did not have to make a statement and understood that advice.
At 9.30pm, after that consultation, Buck indicated that he would make a statement. His original conviction appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court, which unanimously dismissed it after concluding there was no causal connection between any possible breach before the solicitor arrived and the later incriminating statement.
Buck's present Article 40 application relied on the Supreme Court's subsequent 2014 decision in DPP v Gormley and White. That case established that, generally, a detained suspect who asks for legal advice should not be interrogated before receiving it.
Mr Justice McDermott held that Buck's circumstances were materially different. The evidence relied upon at his trial was obtained after he had consulted his solicitor, been advised of his right to silence and indicated that he understood it.
The judge also held that Buck could not reopen his final conviction simply because the law had later developed. His appeals had long since concluded, and a separate 2015 miscarriage-of-justice application relying on Gormley had already failed.
The court found no arguable case that Buck's trial was fundamentally unfair or that his detention lacked the basic requirements of due process. His application for release was refused.