Zhang Meilai

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Charge:	Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life
Years Imprisoned:	22
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 Zheng’s 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
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Zhang Meilai

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life

Years Imprisoned:

22

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:

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: