2016年CRI Four Acquitted after 22 Years in Jail

Four Acquitted¹ after 22 Years in Jail

Thursday's rehearing by the Higher People's Court of Fujian ended with the four defendants² cleared of charges and their original sentences overturned.

Cai Jinsen was among them.

"When the acquittal was announced, I felt relieved. There were many things I wanted to speak out about, but I decided³ not to do so."

Cai Jinsen, along with Xu Jinlong, Zhang Meilai and Xu Yusen were arrested in 1994 in connection with the death of a 66-year-old man in the province’s Putian City.

In June the year after, Cai was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve⁴, while the others, initially⁵ sentenced to death, had their penalties suspended in April 1999.

Cai was released in August 2014, while the other three remained in jail until Thursday.

At the rehearing, the court said it had found some witness testimony⁶ contradictory⁷ and possible forgery⁸ concerning the finger prints of a key witness.

Mao Lixin, one of the lawyers for the defendants, hailed the acquittal.

"They were convicted largely based on testimonies⁹ without any physical evidence available against them. Neither their fingerprints¹⁰ nor the tools they used in the killing¹¹ have been found."

The acquittal is seen the latest success in China's enhanced efforts against wrongful convictions.

It comes just days after the release of Sichuan native, Chen Man, who had been wrongfully jailed for over two decades on arson¹² and murder charges.

There have been calls for greater efforts to improve accountability in China's legal system.

But Yi Yanyou, Chen Man's lawyer, suggests the priority should be given to having appeal procedures streamlined.

"A retrial is usually required to be completed within a certain period. But there is no time limit for a court to reply, to say whether they accept a retrial application. So in many cases, there would be an endless wait for such a court reply."

Yi added that it even becomes a mission impossible as a retrial application would be reviewed in the first instance by the court that gave the original sentence, which is naturally reluctant to see a retrial.

At the same time, the lawyer also called for attention to be paid to the root cause of the problem.

"Wrongful convictions are taking place while we are trying to correct previous ones. So it's much more urgent to think about how we can prevent wrongful conviction at the very beginning and protect the rights of suspects in an investigation¹³."

As yet, all the four defendants in Putian have applied¹⁴ for state compensation.

For CRI, this is Luo Bin¹⁵.

1 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

2 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

7 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

8 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

9 testimonies   

（法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据

参考例句：

• Davie poured forth his eloquence upon the controversies and testimonies of the day. 戴维向他滔滔不绝地谈那些当时有争论的问题和上帝的箴言。
• Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. 22求你除掉我所受的羞辱和藐视，因我遵守你的法度。

10 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

15 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。