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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Murder, Rape and Robbery" |
Sentence: |
Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life |
Years Imprisoned: |
14.5 |
Year Crime: |
2000 |
Year Convicted: |
2003 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
China |
County or Region of Crime: |
Jiangxi |
City of Crime: |
Leping |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Huang Zhiqiang, Fang Chunping (aka Cheng Cheng Mao), Cheng Fagen and Cheng Lihe were codefendants wrongly convicted on July 7, 2003 of intentional homicide, rape, and robbery in the death of a supermarket owner Jiang Zecai and his dismembered girlfriend who were found in a field near Leping, Jiangxi Province, China on May 23, 2000. Lihe was arrested on May 25, 2002, Chunping on June 2, 2002, and Fagan was arrested on June 6, 2002. The prosecution of the four men was based on their confessions, which they recanted as coerced by police torture. The four defendants claimed their confessions were obtained after police beat them for long hours, hung them from the ceiling for several days and nights, forced them to stay on their knees until they dropped, and left them without food, water or sleep. All four men had alibis for being elsewhere on the day on the day of the crime. A fifth defendant, Wang Shenbing, fled on June 1, 2002 before he could be arrested. After their convictions in the Intermediate People's Court of Jingdezhen the four men were sentenced to death. They appealed, and in January 2004 the Jiangxi Higher People's Court ruled there was insufficient evidence and sent their case back for a retrial. After a retrial they were again found guilty and sentenced to death on November 18, 2004. They appealed. In July 2006 the Jiangxi Higher People's Court upheld their convictions, but their sentence was changed to death with a two-year reprieve, after which their sentences were commuted to life in prison. In February 2010 Fang Chunping, Huang Zhiqiang and Cheng Fagen went on a hunger strike to attract attention to their case -- claiming they were innocent -- during the the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Geneva, Switzerland. In October 2013 serial killer Fang Linzai claimed that he was the "real murderer" of the couple. DNA testing of 29 cigarette butts found at the crime scene matched Linzai's DNA to three of the butts with a 99.99% degree of certainty. But the DNA of the four defendants was excluded from matching any of the cigarette butts. Based on the new evidence the case of the four dendants was reopened in June 2016. After their third trial, Zhiqiang, Chunping, Fagen and Lihe were acquitted on December 21, 2016 by the Jiangxi Higher People's Court based on contradictions in the evidence, and the authenticity and legality of the defendant’s confessions was uncertain. Although unstated one of the contradictions the court referred to was likely that the credible of Linzai’s confession was corroborated by the forensic testing of the cigarette butts that placed him at the crime scene. The four were immediately released from custody. The next day, December 22, the people's Procuratorate of Jingdezhen announced the decision not to prosecute Shenbing -- who had successfully avoided capture for more than 11 years (4,132 days) until his arrest in Nanchang on June 15, 2013. In 2014 two of Shenbing's nephews were convicted and sentenced to jail for harboring him, and his wife was held in custody for 30 days. Shenbing was released on bail on June 19, 2014. At the time of the men's exoneration three lawyers, a doctor, and a human rights activist were in custody for their actions on behalf of Zhiqiang, Chunping, Fagen and Lihe that offended government authorities. Those five were lawyer Li Heping; Dr. Xu Zhiyong; lawyer Li Chunfu; human rights activist "The Butcher" Wu Gan; and lawyer Jiang Tianyong. On June 8, 2017 it was reported that Lihe, Chunping, and Fagan had filed compensation claims totaling approximately US$3 million each, and Shenbing filed a compensation claim for about $US230,000. Zhiqiang is expected to file a separate compensation claim." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False confession coerced by police torture. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"After their third trial, Zhiqiang, Chunping, Fagen and Lihe were acquitted on December 22, 2016 by the Jiangxi Higher People's Court based on insufficient evidence of their guilt considering the credible confession of Linzai corroborated by the forensic testing that placed him at the crime scene." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Chinese |
Information Source 1: |
"Chinese Court Upends 13-Year-Old Rape, Murder, Robbery Convictions, By Staff, Radio Free Asia, December 22, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/ruling-convictions-12222016135055.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Wrongfully convicted men declared innocent, freed, By Zhang Yi, China Daily, December 23, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-12/23/content_27752892.htm |
Information Source 3: |
"Leping rape and murder fugitive Wang Shenbing won the decision not to prosecute, China News, December 23, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.chaofanzhuan.net/Journalism/1074.html |
Information Source 4: |
"4132 days of escape, the parties asked the public apology, By Staff, thechinesenews.net, June 8, 2017" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.thechinesenews.net/Today-News/69459.html |
Information Source 5: |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org