The High Court refused an application for a conditional habeas corpus order by Walter Morrissey, who was in custody in Midlands Prison. The application sought an inquiry into the lawfulness of his detention under Article 40 of the Constitution. The court did not direct an inquiry and refused the relief sought.
Morrissey was convicted in the Central Criminal Court on 8 July 2013 of sexual assault and intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to the same person. He received concurrent 13-year prison sentences, running from 9 January 2012. The judgment also describes the offences as aggravated sexual assault and intentional or reckless serious harm.
In his written application, Morrissey alleged that a transcript of his trial, which he said he received on 24 December 2016, had been “doctored” and was incomplete. He said this reduced his chances of a successful appeal and that his appeal submissions were based on the transcript. He argued that without a full transcript he could not obtain a fair hearing or process. These were his allegations; the court did not make a finding that the transcript had been altered.
The judgment records that Morrissey had appealed his conviction and appeared to have legal representation for those proceedings. Justice Faherty said that if the transcript failed to reflect what happened at trial, his immediate remedy was to ask his legal representatives to investigate the complaint.
The court said the information in the habeas corpus application was insufficient for it to form an opinion on whether Morrissey was unlawfully detained. It considered the complaint about the trial and transcript more properly a matter for the appeal process, which was ongoing. The ruling concerned whether the material before the High Court justified an Article 40 inquiry; it did not determine the transcript allegation or the pending appeal.