Chapter 11 Not guilty

innocent (1) Misfortune came, because of a drop of mosquito blood, he became a murderer.He was sentenced to death twice, but he was wronged innocently. Sentenced in 1983 and released in 1990, he is still a murder suspect released on bail.There is no statement, no compensation for a penny. 24 years have passed, and the "Li Zhiping Intentional Homicide Case" has not yet been closed.A man has wasted 24 years of his life for a crime he never committed. Li Zhiping, an ordinary farmer in Nanding Village, Dingzhou, Hebei Province. In 1983, he was a robust young man in his mid-twenties.He got a girlfriend in the village and planned to get married but suffered from lack of money, so he had to bid farewell to his hometown and go to work in Datong, Shanxi. In May, the family had to harvest wheat, so he went home to help.A month later, the wheat was harvested, and he returned to Datong on the morning of June 19 to continue working.What he didn't know was that in the early hours of the day, a murder case occurred in their village, which changed his life.Zimo: How did all these things happen 24 years ago?

Li Zhiping: One month later, Yan Shunli from the Public Security Bureau brought people to Datong.The foreman called me over from the construction site, and people from the Public Security Bureau questioned me.Ask me when I arrived in Datong, and what did I do during the wheat harvest?I told the story.I was wearing a white vest at the time, and there was a blood spot on the vest, which I scratched after a mosquito bit me.They asked me to take off my white vest, and at the same time took some of my hair, saying that they would do tests and investigations.Only then did Li Zhiping know that Zhu Yingjie from the same village was killed at home in the early morning of June 19.After the murder, a deputy chief of the Ding County Public Security Bureau led a team of more than a dozen police officers who lived and boarded in the village. They stayed in the village for more than 50 days and investigated more than 2,000 villagers one by one.According to the on-site investigation, the police believe that the murderer crossed the courtyard wall and hit Zhu Yingjie on the head with a weapon similar to a wooden stick to death.Since no property was lost in the deceased's home, the police ruled out the possibility of "homicide for money" and set the detection direction as "vendetta".Zimo: Why did the public security personnel place suspicion on you?

Li Zhiping: I am not clear about this matter.I left on the morning of the ninth day of the ninth day, and he died on the night of the eighth day of the eighth day. Maybe he suspected me in terms of time. Zimo: Do ​​you know him (the deceased)? Li Zhiping: Yes, we are from the same village and worked together. Zimo: Have there been disputes and conflicts? Li Zhiping: When I was working in Datong in 1982, he and my master had conflicts over the quality of the project.At that time, my master was the foreman of the engineering team. He reprimanded Zhu Yingjie because of quality problems, and quarreled on the construction site, but after the quarrel was over, nothing happened.It was the quarrel mentioned by Li Zhiping that was seen by the Ding County Public Security Bureau as his "motivation" for the murder.A month later, the police officers from Hebei came to Li Zhiping again, pinned him down and handcuffed him.Li Zhiping anxiously asked why, but no one answered.A group of them boarded the train from Datong to Dingzhou overnight.On the train, Li Zhiping was handcuffed and knelt on the floor of the carriage all night. When he arrived in Dingzhou, he was handcuffed to a big tree.Zimo: What did you do after you were taken to the police station?

Li Zhiping: It was still dark at that time. They took me to the police station and made me hug a very thick tree. I was handcuffed and my hands were black. Zimo: Why were you handcuffed to a tree? Li Zhiping: I don't know what to do, so prepare to torture and interrogate me.After dark, they untied me from the big tree, brought me to the interrogation room, and asked me how I killed Zhu Yingjie.I said I didn't kill Zhu Yingjie at all, why should I kill him if I have no grievances with him?They said, you have to be honest.I said I didn't kill anyone, what do you want me to confess?After a few words they started hitting me.

Zimo: How to fight?With equipment or... Li Zhiping: With bamboo sticks, four or five people surrounded me and beat me until I lay unconscious on the ground.When I woke up, I found that I had been sent to the detention center. Zimo: How long did the process of beating you last? Li Zhiping: The first time I was beaten for more than 20 minutes, I couldn't even take off my clothes, I had to tear them off piece by piece. Zimo: Is it blood that sticks the skin and clothes together? Li Zhiping: We are stuck together.Li Zhiping repeatedly argued that he did not kill anyone, but no one believed him. They just beat him until he became unconscious.Now he can't remember how many days he stayed in the interrogation room, he only remembers that he was knocked out and then woke up, woke up and was knocked out again.Because he was pulled so hard during the torture, his right arm still cannot be straightened.Finally, in this state he recorded a statement.Zimo: How did they get you to admit it?

Li Zhiping: If you don't admit it, I will beat you.I don’t know how the murder happened, so they taught me how to say it, for example, did you jump in through the window, because there were footprints at the scene.They made me repeat what they said, and they took notes. Zimo: Do ​​you mean that the statement in the hands of the police was completely taught by them and you? Li Zhiping: Yes, they asked me to say that.I couldn't bear the beating, let me admit it, they taught me a sentence, and I said a sentence.After getting this statement, the police still need other evidence.They came to Li Zhiping's house, removed a wooden stick from his chicken coop, and took away a pair of Li Zhiping's old shoes.In this way, two months after the incident, the murder case was solved. In November 1983, Li Zhiping was formally arrested on the charge of intentional homicide. On November 6, 1984, the Baoding Intermediate Court held a hearing on the case. Li Zhiping retracted his confession in court, saying that he had been tortured to extract the confession.However, after trial, the court found that Li Zhiping was guilty of homicide and sentenced to death.Li Zhiping decided to appeal.Zimo: Did you complain during the court session?

Li Zhiping: Yes, I scolded the presiding judge Wu Dewen in court.After my death sentence was announced, the police car took me to the detention center, where I kept shouting and cursing. Zimo: After learning about the death penalty, what did you think about every day in the detention center? Li Zhiping: I don’t think about anything. The walls of the detention center are so high and the courtyard is so small. I don’t think about anything. I’ve already lodged an appeal, and I’m waiting for the ruling.After Li Zhiping appealed, Zhang Zhi, who was the presiding judge of the Higher People's Court of Hebei Province at that time, came to Ding County to interrogate Li Zhiping.Li Zhiping showed the presiding judge his bloody clothes and injuries on his body.The Provincial High Court also noticed that the palm prints and footprints extracted by the Ding County Public Security Bureau at the scene of the crime were ambiguous.They decided to revoke the original judgment and send it back to Baoding District Intermediate People's Court for a new trial. In 2005, lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan took over Li Zhiping's case.What surprised him was that from his professional point of view, none of the evidence convicting Li Zhiping was tenable.Doubt 1: The murder weapon

Liu Xiaoyuan: They said that the murderer held a stick with his right hand, climbed over the wall with his left hand, turned inside and killed the victim, but there was no handprint of Li Zhiping on the stick, and no murder weapon was provided during the trial.At that time, the defense lawyer asked them to take it, but they couldn't get it and only provided photos. Doubt 2: Bloodstains Liu Xiaoyuan: There are blood spots on the vest. After testing, it is Li Zhiping's blood, which was scratched after being bitten by a mosquito.The blood at the crime scene was the blood of the deceased, and no trace of Li Zhiping's blood was found.Doubt 3: Palm prints and footprints

Liu Xiaoyuan: The palm prints are not his, the footprints are only a little similar after identification.They gave Li Zhiping those shoes to wear during the court session, and they were more than an inch too big.The file was returned to the Public Security Bureau for supplementary investigation.Just when Li Zhiping saw hope, the Ding County Public Security Bureau added an important piece of evidence.They sent the palmprint to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for appraisal, and came up with such an appraisal report: "In the murder case of Zhu Yingjie and his wife, the soil trace palmprint extracted at the scene was left by Li Zhiping's left palm." September 2, 1985 The Baoding Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li Zhiping to death again.Fortunately, after the Hebei Provincial High Court received the death sentence for the second time, it did not rush to a conclusion, but sent the palm prints of the key evidence to the Ministry of Public Security for review.The conclusion reached was just the opposite: the palm prints were not Li Zhiping's. On March 20, 1986, the Provincial High Court sent Li Zhiping's case back to Baoding Intermediate Court for retrial for the second time.Zimo: If the high court thinks that the evidence is insufficient, how could the public security organs fail to realize this and decide Li Zhiping as a murderer?

Liu Xiaoyuan: If the evidence is overturned and Li Zhiping is not guilty, they will bear legal responsibility.An insider said that they used a person who worked at the Beijing Police Academy, who was also from Dingzhou, to find Ma, an expert in charge of trace identification at the Beijing Public Security Bureau. Through this abnormal relationship, they identified the footprints as Li Zhiping. of. Zimo: When you learned of the second death sentence, did you still have hope in your heart? Li Zhiping: I feel that there may be no hope this time.Because after the provincial high court rejected the materials and returned them for retrial, the intermediate court did not interrogate me in detail at all.

Liu Xiaoyuan: Just send the footprints and palm prints at the scene of the crime to the Ministry of Public Security for review and inspection, and the Ministry of Public Security will send the footprints and palm prints to Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department, Heilongjiang Public Security Department, Hubei Provincial Public Security Department, and Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau for inspection. I don't think Li Zhiping kept it. innocent (2) Zimo: If there is only a confession without any clear physical evidence, then what kind of purpose does the public security organ want to identify Li Zhiping as a murderer? Liu Xiaoyuan: Li Zhiping's case belongs to an extraordinary period, which is a bit special.It was 1983, during the "strike hard" period, the state severely punished and cracked down on criminals, so as to punish criminal activities.When a homicide occurred in Dingzhou at this time, the pressure on the public security organs was enormous. In 1983, China launched a "strike hard" campaign. The public, prosecutors and law jointly enforced the law, and adopted a "severe, strict, and fast" approach to all criminal acts.Zhu Yingjie's death happened just at the beginning of the "strike hard" operation, so some people think that Li Zhiping was lucky not to be shot dead in a daze. After the second death sentence was revoked by the Hebei Higher Court, the case was sent back to the Baoding Intermediate Court for retrial.Unexpectedly, after the case was returned to the Public Security Bureau, there was no more follow-up. No one knew who was in charge of this matter, and no one knew how far the matter was handled. Anyway, it was in the middle of "investigating the case" day after day. However, Li Zhiping was locked up in the detention center day after day, waiting to be cleared of his grievances.It took more than six years to "investigate" this case.During this period, Li Zhiping's relatives also suffered from this unjust case, fell ill and died.Zimo: Can I see my family? Li Zhiping: I haven't seen my family, and I can't get in touch with the outside world.I miss home every day. Today this person is released, and tomorrow that person is released. I have never heard of the release. When I see others returning home with their bedroll papers, I feel very anxious. Zimo: Do ​​you know what happened at home? Li Zhiping: I don't know. In 1985, I was told my father had died. After I was arrested and sentenced to death in 1983, my father was frightened into a serious illness and passed away not long after.I was very sad to hear the news in the detention center and cried for several days. Li Zhiying (brother Li Zhiping): During the Chinese New Year, my father bought some meat and asked me to send it to Zhiping. Got sick.Because Chinese New Year is a time for family reunion and joy, but at this time my child is suffering in prison. Zimo: If you hadn't been sentenced to death, your father wouldn't have left so early. Li Zhiping: Indeed.After I was sentenced to death, my mother also suffered from a serious illness. It took thousands of dollars to cure her illness, but my father passed away. In July 1990, one day, Li Zhiping's elder brother Li Zhiying came to see him in the detention center and said that after the efforts of the whole family, they found a way to rely on connections, and now the Public Security Bureau agreed to release him on bail pending trial.Li Zhiping didn't want to stay in the detention center for a minute, and wanted to get out quickly no matter what.Before being imprisoned, Li Zhiping also blew up an arranged marriage.After he was released from prison, Li Zhiping wanted to start from scratch to make a living for himself.Li Zhiping: The management staff of the detention center took me out of the cell and told me that my elder brother came to see me.At that time, I thought to myself, my brother came to see me, there must be hope, and he wanted to let me go.When I saw my brother, he said that now the Public Security Bureau is going to release you on bail pending trial, do you want to go out.I said, go out.Originally, my family had always disagreed with letting me out like this, and wanted the Public Security Bureau to compensate me for my losses.But I told my brother that after 7 years in the detention center, I really couldn't stay any longer, so I should go out now. Zimo: Back home is it the same as before? Li Zhiping: It's not the same. After I got home, my family has completely changed.There are 5 brothers, except me, all married and started a business.There is no room for me at home, no homestead for me, nothing for me. Zimo: How do you maintain your life now, and what is your source of income? Li Zhiping: The detention center made me physically ill and sick, and no one took good care of me when I went to work.The current source of income is to find a part-time job to earn some pocket money, and I can't earn much after a year.The more embarrassing thing Li Zhiping faced was his own identity.After the case was sent back for retrial for the second time, the local court did not hold another trial.The court did not acquit him, and the Ding County Public Security Bureau did not dismiss his case.Bai Bai was imprisoned for 7 years, and once he got out of the detention center, he was still a suspect released on bail.Li Zhiping's personal freedom was restricted, and he could not get a penny of compensation.Li Zhiping: One year after I was released, I went to the Ding County Public Security Bureau to look for them.They said that if you want to cancel the bail pending trial, first ask the commune to issue a certificate for you.I said what certificate did you ask me to issue?Can the commune prove that I didn't kill anyone?Yan Shunli said it depends on my performance. Zimo: Did they admit that they arrested the wrong person? Li Zhiping: No one will admit it, but letting me out is like proving them wrong. Zimo: After all, releasing him is a bail pending trial, which is different from being released without charge. Li Zhiping: Yes.After they released me, whenever there was a criminal case nearby, even though I was working outside, they would bring me back and ask me to print my fingerprints, walk my steps, and take my footprints and palm prints. Li Zhiying: They also told the security director that Li Zhiping was not allowed to travel far in the future, and he was not allowed to associate with relatives, and asked the security director of the brigade for leave.That is to say, Li Zhiping has no personal freedom after he is released from prison.Li Zhiping was desperate and began to petition everywhere. In 1998, his petition finally attracted the attention of the top leaders of Hebei Province.The superiors instructed the judiciary to reexamine Li Zhiping's unjust case and rehabilitate it, so as to solve the remaining problems.However, when the working group was conducting a review, even more strange things happened: first, the files of the Baoding Intermediate Court were lost, and then the investigation files of the Dingzhou Public Security Bureau were also missing.The re-examination work therefore ceased to exist and was not carried on any further.Zimo: How could the case files not be found suddenly at the same time? Liu Xiaoyuan: According to the investigation conducted by the reporter of "Democracy and Legal Daily", the court said at the time that a new office building was built behind them, which may have been lost when they moved.As for why the files of the public security organs could not be found, some insiders said that someone may have deliberately hidden them. Zimo: If you hide it intentionally, what legal consequences will you bear? Liu Xiaoyuan: If you deliberately conceal the case without destroying the file, you will be punished administratively.If the files are destroyed intentionally or lost due to negligence, and they can no longer be found, they must have committed the crime of dereliction of duty.Without the file, it is impossible to dismiss the case. Some insiders said that under such circumstances, the case may be delayed for another 20 years.Liu Xiaoyuan began to report Li Zhiping's case to relevant departments.As a first step, he first reported Li Zhiping to the Hebei Provincial High Court, but there was no result.Later, with the continuous efforts of Lawyer Liu, the case finally attracted the attention of the media. On June 24, 2006, "Democracy and Legal Daily" was the first to disclose this matter.Subsequently, CCTV's "Today's Statement", "Yanzhao Evening News", "Legal Weekly", Fujian People's Broadcasting Station, Hong Kong's "Wen Wei Po" and other media successively reported on this matter.At this time, under the attention of various media, in July 2006, the file of "Li Zhiping's Intentional Murder Case" was suddenly found again.After 24 years, the Dingzhou Public Security Bureau finally canceled Li Zhiping's compulsory release on bail and restored his freedom of movement.Zimo: From 1990 to 2006 when release on bail was cancelled, does the 16-year period of release on bail comply with the regulations? Liu Xiaoyuan: From a legal point of view, the release of Li Zhiping on bail before 1996 was not illegal. In 1996, the "Criminal Procedure Law" was amended to strictly stipulate that the maximum time for release on bail pending trial is one year.But the problem is that by 1996, Li Zhiping had been released on bail for 6 years. During the 6 years, no evidence could be found to prove that he might be innocent. case, but they did not do so. Zimo: Now in this case, if you want to obtain the innocence and compensation that you finally expected, what is the biggest difficulty? Liu Xiaoyuan: In order to completely rehabilitate Li Zhiping's case and prove Li Zhiping's innocence, the public security organs must make a decision to withdraw Li Zhiping's intentional homicide case.The problem now is that some media interviewed the public security organs before. They believed that this unjust case was caused by history. At that time, after the public security investigation, the procuratorate approved the arrest and reviewed it, they filed a public prosecution in the court, and the court issued a death sentence.The public security organs believe that this is the result of the joint efforts of the three companies, and now they feel that it is a bit unfair for the public security organs to bear the responsibility. Li Yuechang (Director of the Office of the Criminal Police Brigade of Dingzhou Public Security Bureau): We have already consulted the superior Baoding (Public Security Bureau), and Baoding is communicating with the Provincial Political and Legal Committee on this matter.According to the "Administrative Law", this case should not be returned to the Public Security Bureau when it reaches the second instance, and the Public Security Bureau does not have the power to withdraw the case now.After the Provincial Political and Legal Committee comes up with an opinion, we need to handle it, we need to handle it, and the court or procuratorate needs to handle it, and we will give a clear answer. innocent (3) Zimo: How long does this process take? Li Yuechang: It won't be too long, maybe a month or two at most.If all goes well, according to the current state compensation standard, Li Zhiping can get at least 200,000 yuan in state compensation after being acquitted.However, for Li Zhiping, the price he paid for the crimes he did not commit in the past 24 years will never be recovered.Whether late justice is justice or not has been a hot topic of debate in legal circles in recent years.However, when we faced Li Zhiping, we found that such an argument is not the most urgent, because what they need most is to repay what they owe them all these years.Zimo: What is the biggest impact of this incident on you? Li Zhiping: I was released by the Public Security Bureau. I couldn't hold my head up in the village. They thought I was still a murder suspect.Everyone knew that I was released on bail, and I was not declared innocent. Zimo: Has your life changed completely? Li Zhiping: Now I have no children and I am alone. Zimo: When you think of this incident, what do you think of? Li Zhiping: Very sad, my life was wasted in vain.Zimo Comments: 2007 is the 10th year since China's "Criminal Procedure Law" was revised. When the law was revised 10 years ago, the most important thing was to establish the judicial principle of "no doubt".To put it simply, for a suspect who is suspected of committing a crime, if there is not enough evidence to prove that he committed the crime, then he will be presumed innocent.According to statistics, according to this principle, more than 40,000 people in China were acquitted in the past 10 years.However, Li Zhiping, a farmer in Dingzhou, Hebei, met the condition of "not guilty" 17 years ago and could be released without charge, but today, he is still a criminal suspect. She Xianglin, a peasant from Hubei, was charged with "killing his wife" in 1998. In 2005, his wife who had been missing for many years returned suddenly. After being imprisoned for 11 years, She Xianglin was finally acquitted. He received a compensation of 460,000 yuan from the state. Now he has opened a local restaurant. Henan farmer Xu Jingxiang was sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbery and theft in 1997. In 2005, the local procuratorate delivered a decision not to prosecute. Xu Jingxiang regained his freedom after being imprisoned for 13 years. After he was released from prison, he applied for state compensation. Teng Xingshan, a farmer in Hunan, was identified as the murderer of a corpse case in 1989 and sentenced to death. A few years later, the "dead" was resurrected and returned to his hometown. In 2005, Teng Xingshan's children applied for state compensation. ... So when can Li Zhiping get the corresponding material and spiritual compensation?