The defendant/exoneree
Chen Man (陈满) was born on February 18, 1963; he was twenty-nine years old when he was incarcerated and was fifty-three years old when he was finally acquitted.
Facts
On December 25, 1992, Firefighters discovered the body of Zhong Zuokuan (钟作宽) on fire at his residence. Zhong Zuokuan was Chen Mans’ former landlord. On December 28, 1992, the police apprehended Chen Man on suspicion of killing Zhong and setting the crime scene on fire to cover up.
Chen had moved out of Zhong’s rental room before the crime occurred.
The police found Chen’s work permit card in Zhong’s pocket.
Procedural History
On December 28, 1992, Chen was held in a form of custody called “sheltering for investigation” (SFI, 收容审查).
On September 25, 1993, the police officially arrested Chen.
On November 29, 1993, Chen was indicted on the charge of murder by the Haikou People’s Procuratorate of Hainan Province.
On November 9, 1994, Chen was convicted of the charges of murder and arson and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by the Haikou Intermediate People’s Court of Hainan Province. The prosecution appealed to the Hainan Provincial High People’s Court (Hainan High Court) on the ground that the sentence was too lenient.
On April 15, 1999, the appeal was denied, and the original judgment was sustained. Chen was sent to prison to serve his time.
On February 10, 2015, upon Chen’s petition, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) filed an appeal to the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) to reopen this case.
On April 24, 2015, the SPC decided to reopen the case and ordered the Zhejiang Provincial High People’s Court (Zhejiang High Court) to retry it.
On January 25, 2016, the Zhejiang High Court acquitted Chen on the ground of insufficient evidence.
Date of the wrongful conviction
November 9, 1994
Date the wrongful conviction was reversed
January 25, 2016
Days incarcerated
8,428
Why was the case reopened/reversed
Chen and his family continued to appeal the conviction.
Their efforts caught the attention of some prominent defense lawyers, who recently launched an innocent movement organization and decided to take Chen’s case as their inaugural wrongful conviction case.
Chen’s lawyers sent numerous petitions to the SPP and the SPC, which resulted in much media attention.
Finally, the SPP decided to review the case.
Factors contributing to the wrongful conviction
Forced confession
At first, Chen didn’t confess to the crime. He claimed the police had whipped, beaten, and scalded him to force his confession. Chen’s confession was inconsistent, and his statements on the timing, methods, and weapon used did not match the crime scene investigation, the forensic report, or the testimony of witnesses. Among his 13 statements, he recanted his confession multiple times.
Tunnel vision
Several witnesses testified that Chen had an alibi when Zhong was murdered. Some said they saw Chen at the construction site. Others claimed they watched television and played mahjong with Chen. But the investigators and the judges at the first trial dismissed Chen’s alibis without investigating them.
The police found a pair of glasses at the crime scene. Neither Zhong nor Chen wore glasses. The police did not follow this lead when looking for suspects.
The autopsy report concluded that Zhong was stabbed to death by a sharp instrument. Chen’s lawyers claimed that the kitchen cleaver the police found at the crime scene could not make the type of wounds sustained by the victim.
Lack of scientific evidence
The alleged murder weapon - the kitchen cleaver – was not tested for DNA or fingerprints.
A bloody shirt, which the police claimed to have found at the crime scene, was never presented as evidence to the court. No DNA test was performed to identify whose blood was on the shirt.
Failure to preserve and present evidence
The prosecution never presented the kitchen cleaver, the shirt with blood stains, Chen’s work permit, and other crucial physical evidence in court.
During the retrial, the police claimed that they had lost these key physical evidence during a national sanitary campaign.
Other developments
SFI was officially abolished in 1996 when China amended its Criminal Procedure Law.
On March 14, 2016, Chen filed a lawsuit with the Hainan High Court for state compensation of 9.66 million RMB. On May 13, 2016, the state compensation case was settled for 2.75 million RMB.