Zhang Zhichao and Wang Guangchao have been acquitted after their retrial, almost 14 years after being convicted of charges related to the 2005 murder of a girl in China’s Shandong Province.
Wang Guangchao (between guards on the left) and Zhang Zhichao (in coat on the right) in court when they were acquitted on January 13, 2020. (SCMP)
In January 2005, Zhang and Wang were classmates with a girl with the surname Gao, at the No. 2 High School in Linshu County.
On the morning of January 10 Gao was reported missing.
Gao’s body was found a month later, on February 11, by a teacher in a locked toilet stall in the boys’ bathroom at the school. Her autopsy found she had been raped and strangled to death.
Several days after the discovery of Gao’s body, 15-year-old Zhang was detained by the police. Two students had reported they suspected him of being involved in the crime.
Under intense police interrogation Zhang confessed to murdering Gao. He implicated Wang in covering up the crime. Zhang’s confession alleged that after killing Gao he was leaving the bathroom when he met Wang. He allegedly asked Wang to guard the toilet while he went to a grocery shop near the school to buy a lock to secure the toilet door. Zhang promptly recanted his confession as coerced by police torture and insisted he knew nothing about what happened to Gao.
Based on his confession Zhang was charged with murder and rape, and Wang was charged with being an accessory.
Zhang Zhichao with his mother outside the courthouse after his acquittal by the Shandong High Court (Weibo)
During their trial the prosecution’s case against both teenagers was based on Zhang’s confession.
There were two prongs to Zhang and Wang’s defense:
First, no physical, forensic or witness evidence corroborated Zhang’s confession or linked him or Wang to Gao’s rape and murder. Both teens were excluded from matching the DNA of sperm recovered from Gao, and hairs recovered from the toilet stall.
Second, alibi witnesses excluded Zhang from committing the crime. The police investigation determined Gao was killed at 6:20 a.m. However, multiple students reported Zhang had taken part in the school flag-raising ceremony at 6:15 a.m., and he had been in class with them at 6:30. Also, the shop’s owner said he did not open his store until 7:20 a.m. Given the prosecution’s time of death it wasn’t possible Zhang raped and murdered Gao.
On March 6, 2006 Zhang was convicted of rape and murder, and Wang of being an accessory. The court decided Zhang’s confession outweighed the exclusionary evidence. Zhang was sentenced to life in prison, and Wang was given a three-year suspended prison sentence.
Zhang and Wang did not appeal at that time.
After learning about the law in prison, Zhang told his mother his rights were violated by the police torturing him into falsely confessing. With his mother’s help Zhang filed an appeal in 2011.
Zhang’s appeal to the Linyi Intermediate People’s Court was denied in 2012. Later in 2012 his appeal to the High People’s Court of Shandong was also denied.
Two petitions to China’s Supreme People’s Court in Beijing were denied: the first in 2016 and the second in early 2017. However, Zhang’s third petition was granted. In November 2017 the Supreme Court ruled Zhang’s conviction was based on contradictory evidence and questionable facts. The Court ordered the Shandong High People’s Court to retry the case.
The retrial was postponed six times before taking place on December 5, 2019. The prosecution offered no evidence against Zhang and Wang, and suggested their acquittal for lack of evidence.
Wang Guangchao (l) and Zhang Zhichao (r) embrace outside the courthouse after their acquittal (Weibo)
On January 13, 2020 the Shandong High Court announced its ruling with both Zhang and Wang present in the courtroom. The Court ordered the acquittal of Zhang and Wang based on the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to prove their guilt. The Court found the legality of Zhang’s confession was not only doubtful, but it was contradicted by credible witness testimony. The chief judge informed Zhang and Wang they can apply to the original court that found them guilty for state compensation. After the verdict Zhang, now 30, was released from his almost 15 years in custody, and he left the courthouse a free man.
After Zhang’s release his lawyer Wang Dianxue told reporters: “It’s gratifying to see the high people’s court correct the judicial misconduct, and it’s the best way for Zhang and Wang, as well as their families, to feel justice.” He also said that Zhang and his family will apply for state compensation, and, “We’re going to apply for more in compensation, because Zhang was a minor and suffered greater emotional damage when he was wrongly convicted.”
January 14, 2020
Hans Sherrer
Justice Denied
