A case of intentional homicide entered the death penalty review procedure of the Supreme People's Court after the court of second instance sentenced the defendant to death penalty with immediate execution. King&Capital Law Firm was assigned by the Legal Aid Center of the Ministry of Justice to act as the defendant's counsel in the case. Through the systematic review of the evidence and precise analysis of the application of the law, the defense opinions put forward by the defender were finally adopted by the Supreme People's Court, and the death sentence was not approved, and the case was remanded for retrial. The handling of this case not only realized the guarantee of judicial justice in individual cases, but also provided practical reference for the defense of similar death penalty review cases.
Death penalty review stage, is the last gatekeeper of life and death, the judge's eyes are not only in the review of the “should kill” basis, but also in the prudent thinking of the “can stay” reasons for "disapproved "Looking for space. And the mission of the defense attorney is to build a solid logical argument for the conclusion of “may stay”. Specifically in this case, first, the cause of death is doubtful. Drinking and suffering from serious coronary heart disease, medical can not be ruled out emotionally induced sudden cardiac death and other possibilities, the so-called “cover the pressure of the nose and mouth to death” conclusion, far from reaching the death penalty to exclude all reasonable doubt to prove the standard. Secondly, there is pity. This case stems from the internal conflict of marriage and family, which is a civil dispute, and after the return of the confession of guilt and repentance attitude is complete, and his and his family's sincere request for compensation, showing the greatest sincerity in repairing social relations. Based on the deficiencies of the evidence and the remarkable particularity of the circumstances, the death penalty should not be authorized for immediate execution in accordance with the law.
I. In-depth examination of the forensic medical report.
Constructing “reasonable doubt” about the core evidence.
In the death penalty review case, the cause of death identification is often the core basis of the case, but also the key breakthrough area of the defense work. Based on the rules of adjudication of the case, we realize that the defenders must go beyond the passive acceptance of the identification of the conclusion of the initiation of the procedure, the scientific basis and logical deduction of the active and in-depth review, to build a solid “reasonable doubt”. In this case, the defense is through three levels of identification of the cause of death of the conclusion of the systematic questioning.
First of all, in the procedural level, should strictly examine the independence and norms of identification activities. In this case, appraisal activities in the procedure and the investigation stage there is a time overlap, and the report directly quoted the defendant's guilty confession, this kind of preconceived expression shows that the investigative activities of the impact of identification, its due neutrality has been impaired, the conclusion of the impartiality of the natural should be questioned.
Secondly, in the entity and methodology level, to focus on the examination of the identification method of scientific and conclusion of exclusivity. In this case, the victim's body was found in a highly corrupted state, many key vital signs were lost due to corruption. In this kind of non-ideal state, the successful defense is often to clarify to the court, many characteristic signs have been lost, if the identification report only to “not see” some characteristic changes on the grounds of categorical exclusion of choking asphyxiation and other causes of death, its logical basis is fragile. The question we can ask is whether, under the existing conditions of the body, there are still possibilities of other causes of death? Have these possibilities been adequately and reasonably ruled out? If no exclusive and unique conclusion can be drawn, then there is room for reasonable doubt that cannot be ruled out in the conclusion of the coroner's evaluation.
Finally, it should focus on the comprehensive evaluation of the victim's own special physical and behavioral state. The identification of this case failed to fully integrated evaluation of the victim's own factors, namely, the fact that he was drinking alcohol and suffering from severe coronary heart disease. In practice, it must be clarified to the panel that in the specific circumstances of emotional excitement, tied up, these self-factors are very easy to induce sudden cardiac death or increase the risk of accidents, there are many possibilities of external violence and self-factors in the result of the death of the role of the mechanism. The available evidence does not uniquely establish that “pressure on the mouth and nose” directly caused the death, which makes the conclusion of the alleged sole cause of death full of reasonable doubt.
II. Systematic examination of objective evidence and contradictions in confessions.
Disintegrating the prosecution's chain of evidence
The standard of evidence in death penalty cases requires “uniqueness” and “exclusivity”. Death penalty review stage, the judge in strict scrutiny of the evidence, looking for “not kill” reasons, one of the core tasks of the defense is to systematically build objective evidence as the center of the “reasonable doubt” system, revealing the prosecution's chain of evidence of doubt for the judge not to approve the death penalty. The death penalty to provide a solid grasp. China's Criminal Procedure Law clearly stipulates that if there is only a confession by the defendant and no other evidence, the defendant cannot be found guilty and sentenced. The evidence system in this case has a number of fundamental flaws, which is the embodiment of this type of defense strategy.
Specifically, the construction of this system should be carried out from multiple dimensions: first, the lack of physical evidence correlation. In this case, the allegation as direct physical evidence of clothing, failed to detect any biological components associated with the victim, resulting in the key physical evidence and the facts of the case is disconnected. This “silent evidence” is precisely the most powerful refutation of the accusation narrative. Secondly, the conflict between confession and forensic science common sense. The autopsy report in this case did not find specific injuries on the victim's face, mouth and nose that were consistent with pressure, which is difficult to match with the confession's description of the need for vigorous pressure to subdue an able-bodied adult. When the violent behavior described in the confession and the damage pattern presented on the body can not be corresponded to, the truthfulness of the confession will be fundamentally questioned. Third, contextual reasonableness is questioned. The use of logic and rules of thumb to analyze the confession described the scene of the crime in a particular environment has the feasibility. According to the scene of this case and witness testimony, the crime occurred in poor soundproofing conditions in rural houses and is silent in the early morning, if the confession really happened as described in the intense struggle and call for help, the surrounding people did not notice that it is not common sense. Through the absence of physical evidence, confession contradictions, situational paradoxes of these isolated suspects systematically linked, the defense to the court presented a picture of the prosecution's evidence can not be justified, the defendant's confession due to the lack of solid objective evidence to support the authenticity of its can not be confirmed, the evidence in the whole case is far from reaching the death penalty case required by the standard of proof of exclusivity.
Third, accurately defining the nature of the case and making every effort to facilitate mediation.
Activating the scale of leniency in criminal policy
In death penalty review cases, sentencing defense is as important as factual defense. According to the Minutes of the National Criminal Trial Symposium on Maintaining Rural Stability, the application of the death penalty should be strictly controlled in cases arising from civil disputes, especially marital and family conflicts. The defender's task is to deeply dig into the background of the case, accurately define the case as a “civil dispute”, and on this basis, through effective communication, make every effort to facilitate civil compensation and understanding, so as to comprehensively activate the guidance of the criminal policy of prudent use of the death penalty.
This case stems from marital and family conflicts, and the victim is responsible for the aggravation of the conflict. The defenders need to describe the origin, evolution and aggravation of the dispute, arguing that it is a typical “civil dispute”, so as to bring the case into the framework of the policy of “prudent use of the death penalty”. Within this framework, it is particularly important to make a comprehensive and objective assessment of the facts of the case, not to criticize the victim, but to reveal the complex causes and consequences of the case.
A more critical and practically valuable aspect is the full promotion of reparations and understanding. In this case, the defendant's family was in a difficult financial situation, and although there were consultations at the first and second trial stages, no agreement could be reached. After entering the death penalty review stage, the defense took two positive actions: on the one hand, repeatedly communicating with the defendant's family, explaining in layman's language the far-reaching significance of compensation for repairing social relations, showing repentance, and striving for judicial forgiveness, and helping them to put down the burden of thought, and enhancing their willingness to make compensation; on the other hand, taking the initiative to explain the family's sincerity in making compensation and the practical difficulties to the Supreme People's Court's undertaking On the other hand, he took the initiative to explain the family's sincerity and practical difficulties to the judges of the Supreme People's Court. In the end, under the active coordination of the judge, the court gave the victim's family part of the judicial aid according to the law, and the defendant's family also made up the compensation money, and the two sides reached an agreement of understanding on civil compensation.
In the efforts of the defense, the case of “civil disputes” nature to be clear, the defendant after the incident without premeditation of the subjective malignant, sincere repentance through the compensation action can be reflected, its personal danger has been significantly reduced. By accurately defining the nature of the case and the degree of fault, and combined with the actual effectiveness of the compensation and understanding, the defense argued to the court that the defendant and the intentional endangerment of the society of the vicious crime is essentially different, according to the law should receive leniency, so as to ultimately strive for the death penalty not to be approved for immediate execution to lay a solid foundation of the rationale and jurisprudence.
Fourth, conclusion:
The professional value of death penalty defense lies in the accurate performance of duties
The death penalty review process carries the important judicial function of preventing wrongful cases and safeguarding basic human rights, and the core responsibility of the defense is to promote the factual determination and legal application of the case in accordance with the legal standard of “clear facts and sufficient evidence” through professional and rigorous work. In this case, from the detailed screening of forensic identification report, to the systematic sorting of evidence contradictions, to the precise argumentation of sentencing circumstances, every step of the defense work is centered on the legal standard of proof, and ultimately prompted the adjudicating authority to pay attention to the reasonable doubt in the case. The Supreme People's Court's decision not to approve the death sentence in this case is not only a response to the evidence in individual cases, but also a practice of the judicial concept of “careful killing, less killing” in death penalty cases. For criminal defense lawyers, the only way to fully demonstrate the professional value of criminal defense is to practice their defense duties with solid evidence reviewing ability and precise legal application level, in order to guard the process of judicial justice.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
