Wrongly Convicted Database Record
|
Charge: |
Murder and Robbery |
Sentence: |
Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life |
Years Imprisoned: |
20 |
Year Crime: |
1994 |
Year Convicted: |
1994 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
China |
County or Region of Crime: |
Fujian |
City of Crime: |
Putian City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Cai Jinsen, Xu Jinlong, Zhang Meilai and Xu Yusen were co-defendants wrongly convicted on June 5, 1995 of murder and robbery in the death of 66-year-old d Zheng Jinrui on January 13, 1994 in his home in the village of Qianfan, Putian City, Fujian province, China. The four defendants confessed, but they recanted claiming their police interrogators had physically coerced them into falsely confessing. After their convictions, Jinsen was sentenced to death with a two year reprieve, while the death penalties of the other three defendants were suspended in April 1999. Jinsen was released in August 2014 after more than 20 years in prison. The case of the four was reopened for investigation, and in February 2014 they were granted a retrial based on the contradictory testimony of key prosecution witnesses, and possible forgery concerning the finger prints of a key witness. A key prosecution witness, Chen Guotai, admitted that he lied when he testified that he had bought gold stolen from Zhengs house from Xu and Zhang Guotai said that Police took away my father after he just underwent surgery. The village chief told me to cooperate with police so as to have my father back. And then I agreed to give the so-called testimony. On February 5, 2016, Jinsen, Jinlong, Meilai, and Yusen were acquitted after a retrial in the Higher People's Court of Fujian, based on insufficient evidence of their guilt. Jinlong, Meilai and Yusen were immediately released after almost 22 years in custody. After their acquittal, Mao Lixin, one of the lawyers for the defendants, said that "They were convicted largely based on testimonies without any physical evidence available against them. Neither their fingerprints nor the tools they used in the killing have been found." All four will be filing for compensation. " |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Contradictory testimony by prosecuton witnesses, and false confessions by the four co-defendants.." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On February 5, 2016, Jinsen, Jinlong, Meilai, and Yusen were acquitted after a retrial in the Higher People's Court of Fujian, based on insufficient evidence of their guilt." |
Defendant Aided By: |
|
Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
|
Age When Imprisoned: |
|
Age When Released: |
|
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Chinese |
Information Source 1: |
"Four Acquitted after 22 Years in Jail, By Luo Bin (Web Editor), CRIENGLISH.com, February 5, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/02/05/3746s915981.htm |
Information Source 2: |
"Fujian High Court retrial 21 years before the robbery and murder: the accused person, kalarm.com, December 17th, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.kalarm.com/30178.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Court reviews 21-year-old murder case, By Staff, Shenzhen Daily, December 18, 2015" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.szdaily.com/content/2015-12/18/content_12619597.htm |
Information Source 4: |
|
Information Location 4: |
|
Information Source 5: |
|
Information Location 5: |
|
Book About Case: |
|
Book Information: |
|
Book About Case (2): |
|
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org