The defendant/exoneree
Zhang Xinliang (张新亮), born in 1967.
Facts
Zhang’s wife Han Shujuan usually worked at home to attend to the couple’s automobile parts business. On October 15, 1999, Zhang came back to their house, and couldn’t find Han. Zhang’s two children were at home but did not know their mother’s whereabouts. Zhang tried to call his uncles for help but found that the telephone line was cut off and the locks on their closet drawers were broken. After Zhang took his children to his relatives and came back with the adult relatives for help, they found that Han had died in the corner of a room at Zhang’s house. There was blood on the victim’s neck and eyes. According to the police, Zhang was suspected to be the offender for five reasons: 1) he did not appear to be very sad and was too scared to move the body when requested by the police; 2) he accurately stated the time he left home and came back on the day of the crime; 3) he originally claimed that some cash and receipts were missing but the police found these in their house; 4) he was not the person who first reported the murder to the police; and 5) he was the one who first found one of the broken locks under a wooden case. Zhang was detained by the police on October 20, 1999.
Other special facts about this case:
Zhang asked one of his uncles to report to the police after they found Han’s body.
Zhang and his relatives were at the crime scene helping with the police investigation and assisting the medical examiner during the autopsy examination.
Zhang’s relatives testified that after the crime, Zhang had not changed his outfit for about 5 days. There was no bloodstain on his clothes or shoes.
Zhang’s two children were then 13- and 10-years old. The older child testified that before she and her brother left for school, a bulky red-face man came on a red motorcycle. She also told the police that this person often came to their store to buy things, and that he was then inside of their house and talking to her mother. But no investigation was conducted on the reported man.
Procedural history
On November 8, 2000, Zhang was charged with the crime of intentional murder of his wife.
On March 27, 2001, Zhang was convicted and sentenced to death by the Xingtai Intermediate Court of Hebei Province. Zhang appealed.
On July 4, 2001, Zhang’s case was remanded for retrial by the Hebei Provincial High Court on the ground of insufficient evidence.
On July 2, 2002, the Xingtai Intermediate Court again convicted Zhang and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Zhang appealed again.
On August 21, 2002, the Hebei Provincial High Court again remanded this case for retrial.
On July 28, 2003, Zhang was again convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Xingtai Intermediate Court.
On April 27, 2005, Hebei Provincial High Court tried Zhang’s case upon his appeal.
On August 8, 2005, Zhang was acquitted by the Hebei Provincial High Court and was released from the prison on December 2, 2005.
Date of the conviction
March 27, 2001
Date the wrongful conviction was reversed
August 8, 2005
Days incarcerated
2,236
Why was the case reopened/reversed
Zhang’s lawyers kept presenting evidence about Zhang’s innocence through and after the trials.
The victim’s family did not press the police to punish Zhang.
Zhang’s family insisted on hiring the best lawyer they could afford. Professor Gu Yongzhong, a prominent law professor and lawyer in China, was retained by Zhang for his third appeal.
In 2005, Hebei Province launched a “promotion for rule of law” campaign. The Zhang Xinliang case is one of the top ten cases that were highly publicized during that campaign.
Factors contributing to the wrongful conviction
False confession
Zhang was severely tortured by the police. He had undergone physical assault, sleep deprivation and starvation. Zhang was also deceived and beaten and was forced to write a confession. This confession was admitted in the third remanded trial at the Xingtai Intermediate Court.
Problematic forensic evidence
The forensic report showed that the victim had “jet-like” bleeding when she was killed and the victim had blood-type A. Zhang had not changed his jacket for five days after the murder. But no blood stain was found on Zhang’s clothes.
Flawed police investigation
Police did not investigate information provided by the victim’s older child and Zhang’s neighbor about a strange big man with a red motorcycle.
Defense lawyer's errors/absence
None. The defense lawyers pointed out the problems in this case and defended Zhang’s innocence.
Prosecutorial errors
Failed to keep the threshold of indictment.
When the appellate court remanded the case for retrial for the second time, it provided a written documents with issues of reasonable doubts in this case. Instead of conducting further investigation, the prosecutor’s office responded in paper to these issues and pointed out that the court’s doubts were not supported by evidence.
Court's errors
Failed to exclude illegally obtained confession. Zhang recanted at trial, but the court did not admit his recantation.
The appellate court could have directly corrected the mistakes it found in this case.
A neighbor of Zhang provided a statement to Zhang’s lawyer that he saw a man on red motorcycle stopped in front of Zhang’s house and heard the motorcycle engine was turned on a few minutes later. Zhang’s lawyer provided this written statement to the court, it was missing from the court’s case dossier.
Other developments
On November 16, 2007, Zhang was rewarded state compensation of 18,700 RMB by the Hebei Provincial High Court. However, Zhang has not received the compensation (last updated on June 20, 2022).