She Xianglin case: found guilty of killing wife, who then shows up 11 years later

[wushijiao]

Recently a man named She Xianglin was freed after being wrongly jailed for 11 years.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/14/content_434020.htm

In the article from the China Daily, it says,

The original conviction came based on a confession which She says was extracted under police torture.

Or read this from SCMP describing his lawsuit. He is seeking 3.85 million RMB for "spiiritual comfort". But,

Instead, the law compensates wronged citizens by paying them the national average daily salary, multiplied by the number of days they are incarcerated. Under this formula, Mr She would receive only about 260,000 yuan.

Any opinions on the case or the lawsuit?

[bhchao]

Thank goodness She did not get the death penalty.

[wushijiao]

Thank goodness She did not get the death penalty.

Maybe that's the point. Perhaps this case, because of its black and white nature, will convince people that legal reforms are needed. It also makes one wonder about what % of people who get the death penalty are actually innocent.

[bhchao]

Perhaps this case, because of its black and white nature, will convince people that legal reforms are needed. It also makes one wonder about what % of people who get the death penalty are actually innocent

The She case also raises issues of how soon death sentences should be carried out, and what the appropriate time frame should be for judicial review of death sentences. As you probably know, someone was executed in Connecticut yesterday after spending 20 years in death row. In the Connecticut case, the convicted individual was truly guilty.

Often it is difficult to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If it is true that She's confession was extracted under duress, then legal reforms are needed as you pointed out, since his fate could have been much worse. Not only he could have received the death penalty, but he could have been executed on the same day the sentence is passed without any chance for future judicial review.

[CookieFactory]

good thing she doesn't live in Texas.

[wushijiao]

As you probably know, someone was executed in Connecticut yesterday after spending 20 years in death row. In the Connecticut case, the convicted individual was truly guilty.

Yes, I heard this via NPR www.npr.org

How does judicial review work in China anyway? If a trial is carried out at the local level, are there any seperation of powers?

good thing she doesn't live in Texas.

That's true. I used to be a Michael Moore man until recently, but anyway, one of his best skits was setting up a scoreboard of Texas vs. Florida at a given prisions right before an execution. Dressed up in a baseball uniform with pom-poms and the like, if he were in Texas, he'd yell pro-Texas slogans for Texas. Then when the person was put to death his scoreboard would light up another point for Texas (Texas 248-Florida 40). Hilarious stuff, in a dark way. Most of the people waiting outside the prision didn't realize it was a gag.

The US and China used to have very different views on torture and the death penalty. With each passing year of the Bush administration, the gap narrows a bit.

[bhchao]

How does judicial review work in China anyway? If a trial is carried out at the local level, are there any seperation of powers?

I'm not familiar with the details of judicial review in China. This page provides an overview of the judicial reforms China is thinking of implementing. http://english.people.com.cn/200502/19/eng20050219_173988.html

Currently the defendant does not have much power in initiating the judicial review process. Instead the process is initiated on the court's own discretion. So the defendant's appeals can fall on deaf ears.

Just like the BMW case, it takes people power to force the courts in reconsidering a previous court verdict.