Robbery, murder suspect acquitted after 21 years in captivity
Li Jin was acquitted on December 29, 2023.
Li Jin, a suspect in a robbery and murder case that occurred in southwest China's Yunnan Province 29 years ago, was acquitted at a retrial after being detained for 21 years, the Sichuan Provincial Higher People's Court announced in a verdict on Friday.
The court found that the facts ascertained in the original judgment were unclear and the evidence was insufficient, so the guilt of defendant Li could not be established. The verdict revoked the judgments against Li made by the Sichuan Provincial Higher People's Court in 1999 and the Chengdu Railway Intermediate People's Court in 1998.
After receiving the acquittal verdict, Li, 56 years old, told The Paper, "I am very satisfied with this result. I cannot describe how I feel at the moment with words."
A robbery and murder case occurred in Yuanmou County, Yunnan Province, on October 14, 1994, which resulted in the death of two people. On September 27, 1995, Li was arrested on the street and later accused of conspiring with fellow villagers Pu Facheng and Pu Faneng to commit robbery and murder.
The Chengdu Railway Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li and Pu Facheng to death, and Pu Faneng to life imprisonment in 1997 for their involvement in the crime. After an appeal by all three defendants, the Sichuan Provincial Higher People's Court sent the case for retrial.
The retrial by the Chengdu Railway Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li Jin to life imprisonment and acquitted the Pu brothers. Li subsequently appealed again, and the prosecution also appealed.
The Sichuan Provincial Higher People's Court ruled that Li had committed robbery and murder with others, and the life sentence was upheld. The court also concluded that there were multiple perpetrators, but the other individuals who committed the crime with Li were not the Pu brothers.
After multiple sentence reductions, Li was released from prison on July 7, 2017. He had been detained for a total of 21 years, nine months, and 10 days.
Li has firmly maintained his innocence and has continued to appeal his case after his release.
According to the criminal appeal document provided by Li to China News Weekly, the only direct evidence in the case was a guilty confession, which was obtained by illegal means such as torture during interrogation. At the time of the crime, Li was not in Yuanmou, but was working in Yingjiang county in Yunnan, and did not have the time or opportunity to commit the crime.
The physical evidence submitted by the prosecution to the court, including fingerprints and shoeprints from the crime scene, could not be proven to be related to Li in any way.
In 2020, The Sichuan Provincial Higher People's Court decided to retry the case.
Li attended the court session on April 25 this year and told China News Weekly that during the trial, his employer at the time in Yingjiang County, Fang Enhua, appeared in court as a witness and provided testimony to confirm that Li was not present at the scene of the crime.
"I just want to live the rest of my life after this retrial. I spent most of my life in prison, and after my release, I went back to Chuxiong, Yunnan, to work while looking for lawyers and witnesses. If not for being wrongfully accused and convicted, I would have already married and had children. Perhaps they would have already gone to university and started working."
"After going through this ordeal, I'm now 56 years old and have nothing. I'm just a lonely old man," Li told China News Weekly.
He also said he would hold the investigators accountable and apply for state compensation. Li's lawyer estimated that the compensation amount for Li could reach over 4 million yuan (US$566,412).
