The defendant/exoneree
Zhang Guangxiang (张光祥) was born on April 25, 1966. He was thirty-seven years old when incarcerated and forty-seven years old when he was finally acquitted.
Facts
On December 9, 1999, the victim Xu Jin (“Xu”) was murdered inside his private clinic in Babujie Town, Zhijin County of Guizhou Provine. The case had been cold for almost four years.
In November 2003, the Zhijin County police apprehended Zhang Guangxiang (“Zhang”), one of Xu’s acquaintances, as a suspect because he, without a good reason, did not attend Xu’s funeral.
In custody, Zhang confessed to murdering Xu and robbing him of 1,140 Yuan in cash.
Procedural History
On November 24, 2003, the police officially arrested Zhang.
The City Procuratorate withdrew the case and returned it to the police for supplementary investigation because of Zhang’s recantation and alibi evidence provided during the first hearing.
On August 12, 2004, Zhang was released on bail pending further investigation.
In October 2006, the City Procuratorate revoked the bail and arrested Zhang for the second indictment.
On June 7, 2007, the Intermediate Court convicted Zhang of robbery and sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve. Zhang appealed.
On August 9, 2007, the Guizhou Provincial High People’s Court (“High Court”) remanded the case back to the Intermediate Court for retrial under the grounds of unclear facts. Meanwhile, the High Court raised seventeen questions to the Intermediate Court for further investigation.
In September 2008, the Intermediate Court again convicted Zhang of robbery and sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve. However, the second conviction failed to respond substantially to the seventeen questions the Higher Court raised. Zhang appealed again.
In April 2009, the High Court remanded the case back to the Intermediate Court for retrial. This time, the High Court raised another twelve questions and demanded more evidence.
In December 2012, the Intermediate Court convicted Zhang of robbery for the third time and sentenced him to fifteen years imprisonment. Zhang filed a third appeal.
After a public hearing on April 29, 2014, the High Court acquitted Zhang because of insufficient evidence and unclear facts.
Date of the wrongful conviction
June 7, 2007
Date the wrongful conviction was reversed
April 29, 2014
Days incarcerated
Why was the case reopened/reversed
The defendant and his lawyer maintained his innocence throughout the trials.
In March 2012, the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law restricted the remand conditions for retrial in appellate cases. Under the revisions, when an appeal is filed from a remanded case where the original decision is based on insufficient evidence or unclear facts, the appellate court shall issue a final decision without remanding the case for a second retrial (Article 225). In the case of Zhang, the High Court had to decide whether Zhang was guilty when he appealed in December 2012.
On August 11, 2013, the Central Political and Legal Committee issued the first set of guidelines on preventing and redressing wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice. The campaign commenced efforts to review backlogged cases where the defendants had been detained for over three years.
Factors contributing to the wrongful conviction
False Confession
Zhang was suspended from an iron rod for four days without sleep or food. After four days of severe torture, Zhang confessed “in order to survive.” He was forced to place his fingerprints on a written confession premade by the police. Zhang recanted his confession in court during the first hearing.
After Zhang was released on bail for the first time, he went to a photo shop to take pictures of the scars on his waist. His wife stated that when he came home, his hands shook too much to hold chopsticks.
Investigator’s Tunnel Vision
Zhang had an alibi: he watched a movie with someone when the crime occurred. But, the police did not pursue the lead to verify his alibi.
Zhang’s fingerprints weren't at the crime scene.
Despite the recanted confession and lack of evidence from the crime scene, the police failed to investigate other leads.
Unreliable forensic evidence
The police put Zhang through a polygraph test and identified him as the suspect. Although the result from the polygraph test was not used as evidence, the unvalidated testing method could bias investigators.
Other Development