It is actually not uncommon for errors in DNA identification in the early years to lead to unjust cases. The most well-known victim in Taiwan is Chen Longqi. He was charged with sexual assault in 2009. DNA identification “is not ruled out” Chen Longqi involved in the case. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Until 2013, new DNA identification technology showed that Chen Longqi’s type was not consistent at all.

In Japan, there is a more famous “Ashigaki incident”. In 1990, a young child was killed. The 45-year-old kindergarten driver Suga Karika was locked up. The DNA identification was also consistent, and Suga Karika was imprisoned. It was not until 19 years later, in 2009, the more accurate DNA identification was released. The murderer was not Suga Karika. The local police chief and the procuratorate officially apologized to Suga Karika. As for the United States, the “Innocent Project” has rehabilitated at least hundreds of unjust cases through its sophisticated DNA identification technology, including many unjust cases caused by the rough DNA identification technology in the early years.

After Lu Jinkai gave up the appeal, the final charge was sexual assault and attempted murder. After we interviewed him for a long time, he said, “I told you not to be angry. Luo Bingcheng asked me to come, otherwise I wouldn’t want to come. At the beginning, the newspaper was very popular, and I didn’t understand it and then wrote it. A countryman gave my father the newspaper and said, “Look at the good things your son did.” He abused him, but my father didn’t know how to read it.”

He continued, “The newspapers write this way, and the prison can see it. It’s difficult to get rid of it when I go in. Rape is like a rat crossing the street. I later switched to Tainan Prison. I know about this kind of case. Four people (sexual assault) died in Tainan Prison, which tortured you to death.” He said that he had to be tortured in those years in Taipei Prison and Tainan Prison. “If you have time, you have to exercise. If you hit you, you have to resist and your life can be preserved. To survive for 20 years, it depends on people. If you don’t have strong will, you will die in it.”

Hell-like days lasted for 19 years before he was released on parole. He returned to his hometown in Yuli in December 2012. His 93-year-old father was bedridden. Two days later, his father passed away. “I called my dad before I was parole and told me that my dad would wait for me, but he insisted on it.”

His mother failed to survive until he was released from prison and passed away the previous year. Lu Jinkai didn’t know that his mother had passed away. “It was during the Chinese New Year that there was a call from the prison. I called home and my sister told me.”

Fourth sister Lu Qiurong explained, “When my mother left, I didn’t tell my brother, because if he came back to attend the funeral, the police would escort him back, wearing handcuffs and shackles, which would make my family members…” She said that her mother was demented in her later years. Every year on December 29, she always sat on a stool in front of her house. “Our home is not far from the rails, so my mother watched the train pass by one by one and said, “My son is coming soon.” She is looking forward to that day every day.”

Lu Qiurong also said that after the incident, the news reported desperately, “The newspaper was published, and someone told my father with the newspaper, “How could your son be like this?” There was also a newspaper reporter who came to my house for an interview as soon as possible. From that day on, my father did not go out of the gate and did not step on the door. He also stopped my mother from going out. They only lived at home and grew vegetables in the yard.”

In order to clear the grievances of his younger brother, Lu Qiurong will definitely be present after the incident, even if it is only a few minutes after the incident. For this reason, I lost my job in the watch shop and found it difficult to find a job that can take leave to appear in court. “When I was in a very poor economy, I ate Yangchun noodles for three years, but I didn’t serve vegetables, but only mixed with sausage sauce. After eating it, my boss raised the price and still charged me the original price.”

Later, Lu Qiurong found the newly established unjust prison rehabilitation association. Lu Jinkai’s case became the second filing of the association. Several lawyers successively requested a retrial for Lu Jinkai, but they were all rejected. In 2021, even the then-procurator-General Jiang Huimin filed a very serious appeal for Lu Jinkai. The reason was that after Lu Jinkai was sentenced to 20 years in the sixth trial, the judge advised Lu Jinkai not to appeal again. Lu Jinkai agreed, but Lu Jinkai’s lawyer was not present at the time. Is this procedure legal?

Jiang Huimin, who has retired and transferred to a lawyer, recalled to us, “Appeal is the defendant’s ‘major interest’ in law. In such a serious criminal case, and the sentence is so serious, how can we let the defense lawyer make this decision hastily while the defense lawyer is away? We quoted the practices of Germany, Japan, and the United States. If the defense lawyer wants to discuss it next to us, it will be decided. Isn’t the defense lawyer just to protect the defendant’s rights? It was a flawed decision. We wrote a very long appeal, but in the end the court rejected it in just a short paragraph.”

After returning to his hometown in Yuli, Lu Jinkai first worked in a bakery, and later transferred to a duck farm with a higher salary. He stayed for 12 years and had a daily salary of 1,300 yuan, and could be worked for 6 days a week. The weather has been abnormal in recent years. He said that the number of ducks has decreased and the number of days off is increasing. In the past two years, he had to switch to construction sites. “Building a house or a tin house costs 1,500 yuan a day. Unless it rains heavily, it can be done for 6 days a week, but there must be a way to endure it under the sun.”

As we chatted, we asked about his previous record of theft. He said, “I was caught by the police when I drove without a license. He stripped off my big license plate (license plate). I didn’t dare to ride it without a big license. So I went to Provincial Highway 2 of Xinzhuang. When I saw a motorcycle in a ragged state, I stripped off its big license plate and put it on my motorcycle. One day I was caught by the police (it should be a temporary inspection) and the computer was called out. This was not my license plate.” He was sentenced to 3 months. But, he was in his 30s that year, why didn’t he take the driver’s license exam? “The road test is very simple, but I am afraid that I can’t get the written test, so I don’t recognize some of the Chinese characters.”

After being released from prison for theft, if this did not happen, what were the plans? Lu Jinkai stopped for 1 or 2 seconds before saying, “I want to save some money. At that time, I had a girlfriend. I had been dating for two years. She invited her in a family beauty salon and lived in the store. If the beauty salon was not open and the boss didn’t come, she would call me over and wash my hair.” At that time, was already planning to get married? “I haven’t talked about getting married yet. I have that idea and a budget, and I can save some money.”

He said, “My father started buying gold very early and was waiting for me, but I hadn’t married yet. He bought the kind that had not yet been formed and had not been made into jewelry. At that time, gold was cheaper, so he bought it bit by bit, and he bought one or two in total.”

Unfortunately, after the incident, my girlfriend was so scared that she had no news. He also said that it was all because he was too soft-hearted. “At that time, I thought that since Chen Xiqing had helped me in prison, my heart would not break the bridge. If I could do it, just do it. If I ignored him and did not take him in, this would not happen. Regardless of whether you did it or not, the victim would die in your house… Actually, I was thinking to myself that the girl died, it was very pitiful. She was almost graduating from college. You, Chen Xiqing, are too cruel…”

In April this year, the court finally agreed that the case could be retried. Just when we interviewed Lu Qiurong in the Rehabilitation Association for the Rehabilitation of the Unjust Prison, the social worker who accompanied her received the message halfway through the way, and tears instantly filled his eyes. It turned out that Wang Qizheng and Hong Shiwei, who had been complaining about the injustice in the “Houfeng Bridge Case”, had just been sentenced to not guilty.

So, will Lu Jinkai have this day? Lu Qiurong said, “I hope there will be such a day, otherwise I will feel unwilling to accept it. All my youth and career have been gone in the past few decades. I have been waiting for that day. I just want to wait for that day.”

★Mirror Weekly reminds you that anyone who is sentenced to guilt in accordance with the law should be presumed to be innocent.

★ “Mirror Weekly” cares about you: If you or others suffer physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, please call 110 immediately to report the case, and then seek the 113 dedicated line to seek help from professional social workers.