Lawyer's character

"He first stabbed me with a broken wine bottle, hurting my neck and face. I dodged and took the opportunity to hug his waist and swung him. As a result, the ground was too slippery and we both fell. Later, he The broken wine bottle in his hand pierced his thigh, and he was later taken to the hospital and died," Gu Changfu said.

"President, the prosecutor has finished asking questions." The female prosecutor was thinking about how to adjust the sentencing period, because Gu Changfu turned over in court.

…

"Does the defendant's defender need to ask questions to the defendant?" the presiding judge asked.

"I need to ask a question." After Fang Yi finished speaking, he looked at the defendant and said, "Defendant Gu Changfu, do you know the victim?"

"I don't know him. I've never seen him." Gu Changfu said.

"Where did you first have a conflict?" Fang Yi asked.

"In the bathroom." Gu Changfu replied.

"Did you take action?" Fang Yi continued to ask.

"He punched me, but I didn't fight back. When he tried to hit me again, he was pulled away." Gu Changfu said.

"What happened after that?" Fang Yi asked.

"I went back and continued drinking and chatting with my classmates. When we were about to finish our meal, Li Tao came over with two people and insisted that I peed on his shoes and demanded 10,000 yuan in compensation. I didn't give it, so he took it. He held a broken wine bottle and stabbed my neck, shouting that he wanted to bleed me.

After I dodged, I hugged him from behind. Later, we fell down and he was injured by the broken wine bottle he was holding and could not be rescued. "Gu Changfu said with very clear thinking.

"That is to say, you didn't fight in the bathroom. Later, when you returned to the hall to eat, the other party came to you again and asked for money, and that's why the fight started?" Fang Yi looked at the defendant and confirmed.

"Yes." Gu Changfu said.

"Presiding judge, the defender has finished asking questions." Fang Yi looked at the presiding judge.

…

“The facts of this case have been clearly investigated, the court investigation has ended, and now the court debate has begun. The court debate mainly revolves around the disputed facts that have not been certified by the court and the issue of how the law should be applied based on the facts.

The prosecutor now speaks. "The chief judge said.

"Presiding Judge, Judge: ... This court believes that defendant Gu Changfu's behavior was intentional injury to others during a fight, and constituted the crime of intentional injury. In view of the fault of both parties, we recommend that he be sentenced to eight years in prison. Finished." said the female prosecutor.

…

The defendant's self-defense was basically the same as before.

"The defendant's defender made a defense statement," the presiding judge said.

"Presiding Judge, Judge: The defender believes that after the defendant Gu Changfu and the victim were stopped from fighting in the bathroom, the victim found the defendant again and made a sudden attack on him. The defendant Gu Changfu's behavior of stopping others from committing crimes for the purpose of defense was It is self-defense and the defendant should not bear any legal liability in this case. The reasons are as follows:

1. Justifiable defense is an important weapon for citizens to fight against illegal and criminal acts.

According to Article 20 of the Criminal Law, in order to protect the country, public interests, the personal, property and other rights of oneself or others from ongoing illegal infringement, actions taken to stop the illegal infringement cause damage to the illegal infringer. , it is legitimate defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.

If a person takes defensive actions against ongoing assaults, murders, robberies, rapes, kidnappings, and other violent crimes that seriously endanger personal safety, resulting in casualties or casualties, this does not constitute excessive defense and he will not be held criminally responsible.

It can be seen that legitimate defense must meet the following conditions:

First, there must be actual unlawful infringement. This is a prerequisite for the establishment of legitimate defense.

Secondly, legitimate defense targets ongoing unlawful infringement. If the unlawful infringement has not yet begun or has ended, legitimate defense cannot be carried out, that is, neither prior defense nor subsequent defense is considered legitimate defense.

Thirdly, acts of self-defense must be directed against the unlawful intruder himself. Self-defense cannot be carried out against persons other than the unlawful offender.

Finally, the person acting in legitimate defense must have defensive intentions. Defense intention refers to the actor's psychological state of determination to stop illegal infringement in order to protect the country, public interests, himself or others, and other rights from infringement.

It can be seen from the above that legitimate defense not only does not constitute a crime, but is also an important legal weapon given by the law to citizens to fight against illegal and criminal acts, and is a legitimate behavior protected by law.

2. Transformation between fighting and legitimate defense

Fighting refers to an act of mutual infringement in which both parties have the intention to infringe on the other party. Therefore, the actions of both parties involved in the fight are unlawful infringement and do not constitute legitimate defense.

However, in judicial practice, fighting and self-defense can be transformed into each other.

When the two parties in the fight stop and one party harms the other again, the nature of the offending party's behavior will change. The above situations can generally be divided into two situations:

First, after the two parties stop fighting, one party is instigated by others or out of revenge and suddenly attacks the other party again;

Second, one party voluntarily gives up the fight or voluntarily withdraws from the fight scene, and the other party continues to chase the other party.

No matter which of the above situations occurs, the reality will change from fighting to one party chasing the other. The beaten party also changed from the offending party to the violated party.

According to the provisions of the "Criminal Law" on legitimate defense, the act of stopping an unlawful infringement carried out by the offended party in order to protect its legitimate rights and interests from being infringed upon is a legitimate defense.

Therefore, if one party suddenly attacks or continues to pursue the other party after the fight is over, the other party has the right to self-defense.

At this time, the acts carried out by the victim to stop the illegal infringement for the purpose of defense have the nature of legitimate defense according to law.

(Note: If one party in a fight voluntarily gives up the fight or voluntarily withdraws from the scene of the fight, it must be thorough. Changes in the situation such as the ebb and flow of the fight between the two parties during the fight, the change of strength and weakness, etc. do not constitute a complete abandonment of the fight or withdrawal from the scene)

3. In this case, the defendant’s behavior did not constitute a fight and constituted legitimate defense.

According to the evidence on record provided by the prosecutor, this case is divided into two stages.

The first stage is the dispute stage. The victim Li Tao and the defendant Gu Changfu had an argument in the bathroom over spilling urine on their shoes. At this time, the two parties had physical contact, and were later pulled apart, and the dispute between the two parties ended.

The second stage is the post-dispute stage. After the victim and the defendant ended the argument in the bathroom, they went back to continue drinking and chatting.

Shortly thereafter, the victim Li Tao came to the defendant Gu Changfu and demanded 10,000 yuan in compensation. The compensation was extortionary and its real purpose was to retaliate against the defendant. "Fang Yi paused here.