The defendant/exoneree
Shen Liujin (沈六斤) (Fang Weishe 方未社). DOB unknown.
Facts
Shen Liujin (Shen) and Fu Ruiwa, both from the Fugou Village of Mayuan Township in Longnan City of Gansu Province, were in a relationship. However, Fu’s parents would not allow their daughter to marry Shen. On February 12, 1992, Shen, in a fight with Fu’s parents, killed Fu’s mother with a knife and injured her father with an axe. The crime happened in Gansu Province. Shen then escaped.
More than twenty years later, the police of the Public Securities Bureau of Manas County of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region apprehended a man they believed to be Shen during a regular check of persons without official IDs on January 28, 2013. the man admitted to the crime.
Procedural history
On December 18, 2013, the man identified as Shen was convicted of intentional murder and sentenced to the death penalty with two years’ reprieve by Longnan Intermediate People’s Court of Gansu Province. He did not appeal.
Upon the victim’s family’s appeal, Gansu Provincial High People’s Court sustained the conviction on May 20, 2014. Shen was sent to prison on September 15, 2014.
Date of the conviction
January 28, 2013
Date the wrongful conviction was reversed
July 15, 2016
Days incarcerated
1,265
Why was the case reopened/reversed
While in prison in 2015, Shen had a cerebral ischemic stroke. Since his life was in danger, the prison administration needed to notify his family. He then claimed that his real name was Fang Weishe (方未社) from Fangji Village, Xigaoshan Township of Longnan City at Gansu Province.
The prison took of photo of Fang and sent it back to Fangji Village for verification. At the same time, the prison reported this new discovery to the prosecutor’s office. After examining the preliminary investigation results, the Gansu Provincial People’s Procuratorate formed a special work group to investigate the case and reported to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on February 17, 2016.
After reviewing the case file and interviewing the incarcerated man, the special work group decided to conduct DNA testing. Several forms of evidence including DNA profiling confirmed that the man in prison was not Shen Liujin, but was in fact Fang Weishe.
On March 2, 2016, the Gansu Provincial People’s Procuratorate appealed to the Gansu Provincial High People’s Court to retry the case.
On July 15, 2016, the high court acquitted Fang of the murder charge on the ground of mis-identification.
Factors contributing to the wrongful conviction
False confession
Fang voluntarily made a false confession. He stated that the police did not torture or force him to confess, and that his admission was truthful. During the hearing, he also did not want to go to court to play the recording of the police interrogation.
In Fang’s confession, he addressed Fu Ruiwa (Shen’s girlfriend) as Fu Yan’er. But Fu’s own testimony claimed that her boyfriend Shen addressed her as Ruiwa not Fu Yan’er.
Flawed police investigation
The police relied on Fang’s admission and witness identification to identify him and did not attempt to verify his identity in any other way.
Dubious witness identification/statements
Two relatives of the victim on separate occasions identified Fang as Shen from among eight photographs. In later interviews with the special work group, they admitted that their identification of Fang was not accurate.