Lawyer's character

"Don't you also think that defendant Yang Rongwei's criminal methods are cruel, the circumstances are abominable, and the consequences are serious? Why should a suspended death penalty be applied instead of the death penalty and be executed immediately?

Is the sentencing standard set by the prosecutor's office different from that held by the court? Zhou Ying asked puzzledly.

"Well... this issue is indeed a bit complicated to explain. From my understanding, the current Criminal Law and judicial interpretations do not have clear and specific provisions on the applicable conditions for immediate execution and suspended execution of the death penalty.

Only Article 48 of the Criminal Law stipulates that ‘if the execution is not necessary immediately’, suspended death may be applied. This provision is too vague and very flexible. As a result, judicial organs at various locations and levels have different understandings of the implementation of the suspended death penalty system, resulting in inconsistency in application.

I speculate that after the judgment of the first instance court in this case, the prosecutor's office lodged a protest, which may be due to the fact that the defendant held a different view from the first instance court on whether the defendant was in a situation that "must be executed immediately". Fang Yi thought for a while and said.

"What do you think of this issue? What I mean is: if it is not required to be executed immediately, a suspended death sentence can be applied. I will plagiarize it so that it can be explained in court." Zhou Ying said with a smile.

"Don't be so blunt! What I say may not be right, and the court may not accept it. You should refer to it and apply it." Fang Yi said in a very official manner.

"Don't worry, the reference will definitely apply. As a defender, I have to do something." Zhou Ying smiled, her eyes turning into crescents.

"Hey! Send Buddha to the West, okay, let me explain my understanding.

In this case, the main reason why the court applied the death penalty (suspended death) to the defendant Yang Rongwei was that his criminal behavior had particularly serious harm to the victim’s personal rights. In other words, the defendant's criminal behavior caused serious injuries to the victim.

According to the evidence in the case, after the incident, the public security agency’s forensic appraisal of the victim Gong Jingyan showed that Gong Jingyan suffered severe brain contusion and subarachnoid hemorrhage; multiple skin and soft tissue lacerations on the upper limbs, and massive blood loss, resulting in blood loss Sexual shock, the degree of injury is serious; there are multiple skin lacerations on the face and six linear scars, which are not serious injuries. The appraisal concluded that he was seriously injured.

The court of first instance determined the extent of Gong Jingyan's injury based on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor's office.

However, based on the case file materials you brought back from the Provincial High Court, the Procuratorate once again re-identified the scars caused by the injury to Gong Jingyan’s head and face, and concluded that the injury to Gong Jingyan’s head and face caused multiple strip scars on the face, which is a serious injury. .

The court of second instance is likely to re-determine the defendant’s degree of injury based on this.

According to the discharge certificate issued by the hospital, Gong Jingyan is walking basically normally, her vital signs are normal, and she is generally in good condition. Afterwards, the hospital issued another diagnosis certificate. Gong Jingyan had sequelae such as difficulty in moving her left lower limb, drooping of her right eyelid, and scar contracture of facial skin.

It can be seen from this that the serious injuries caused to the victim Gong Jingyan, especially the disfigurement caused by facial injuries, have become the main factors in determining the seriousness of the consequences of defendant Yang Rongwei’s crime and determining whether he is in a situation that “needs to be executed immediately” .

In this case, the amount of property that was robbed was less than one hundred yuan, and home robbery alone is not enough to impose the death penalty. Therefore, the serious injury of the victim Gong Jingyan will become the main factor in determining whether the defendant's behavior is a situation that warrants immediate execution.

Therefore, the provisions on the application of the death penalty for the crime of robbery in the "Criminal Law" are relatively vague, so we might as well learn from the relevant provisions on criminal liability for the crime of intentional injury in the "Criminal Law" as a reference for this case.

The law on the crime of intentional injury stipulates that anyone who causes serious injury and severe disability by particularly cruel means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years, life imprisonment, or death.

It can be seen that in the crime of intentional injury, only when the victim is seriously injured and severely disabled by particularly cruel means, the crime is extremely serious and the death penalty can be applied.

However, there are no specific provisions in the Criminal Law and relevant judicial interpretations on how to determine severe disability.

In judicial practice, the judgment can be made with reference to the provisions on ‘severe disability’ in the “Standards for Appraisal of the Disability Degree of Employee Work-related Injuries and Occupational Diseases”.

The existing evidence in the case cannot prove that the victim Gong Jingyan's injury was severely disabled; and overall, her physical condition has recovered well. The court of first instance found that the consequences of Yang Rongwei's crime were not particularly serious.

Although the defendant Yang Rongwei broke into a house and robbed a house and caused serious injuries to the victim, he should be severely punished. However, considering that the consequences of Yang Rongwei's crime were not particularly serious, and that he was a first-time offender and had a good attitude of pleading guilty, the defendant was not sentenced to death and must be executed immediately. .

I believe that the court of first instance sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve, which reflects the principle of proportionality to the crime and the sentencing is appropriate. "Fang Yi explained.

Opposite Zhou Ying lowered her head and tapped on the keyboard. Fang Yi deliberately slowed down her speech to make it easier for her to record.

"Lawyer Fang, when sentencing for robbery, is it appropriate for us to learn from the content of intentional injury?" After Zhou Ying finished typing, she raised her head and asked doubtfully.

“In this case, the defendant used violence during the robbery, causing serious injuries to the victim, and committed the crime of robbery and intentional injury at the same time. I think it is a combination of imagination.

Therefore, when there is no clear provision for the crime of robbery, I think there is no problem with referring to the crime of intentional injury. "Fang Yi said with a smile.

"Well, I'll sort it out. The court will start next Monday. I'll go back and work overtime to write out the defense opinions." Zhou Ying said while packing up the case files.

After saying that, Zhou Ying ran out of the office holding her laptop and case files.

Fang Yi looked at her back and said with a smile: Young people are motivated and I hope they can keep it up.

…

On Monday, Fang Yi was drinking tea and talking with Wan Kefa (nonsense), when suddenly there was a knock on the door. As soon as the door opened, Assistant Feng came over, smiled at Fang Yi and said hello, then came In front of all the law.

"Boss, Mr. Wu is here." Assistant Feng said softly.

"Oh? Why is Boss Wu here? Please come quickly." After Wan Kefa finished speaking, he stood up and walked out.

"Boss, you have a guest, I'm going back first, let's talk later." Fang Yi got up and walked to the office. As he walked out, he saw Wan Kefa smiling and saying hello to a tall white-haired old man not far away.

The old man looks very impressive. He walks with his head held high and his eyes are bright. He is dressed in casual clothes. The skin on his face is rosy and shiny. You can tell at a glance that he is well maintained.

Behind the white-haired old man was a young man wearing a pink suit, with oily hair and pink face, who looked very good at putting on a show.

Fang Yi took one look and returned to the office.