Lawyer's character

"Defendant, did you hear clearly the indictment just read out by the prosecutor? What crime are you accused of? Do you have any objection to the criminal facts accused of you in the indictment?" The presiding judge looked at Li Tianjun sitting in the dock.

"I heard clearly and have no objection. I recognize the charges and criminal facts in the indictment." Li Tianjun said with his head hanging down.

After hearing what Li Tianjun said, Fang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. In the first half of the trial, Li Tianjun finally agreed to Fang Yi's suggestion and pleaded guilty and accepted punishment.

The prosecutor then interrogated the defendant about the criminal facts charged in the indictment. Since he had confessed his crime and accepted punishment, Li Tianjun had nothing to argue with. He answered all questions and explained the situation in detail.

Fang Yi asked Li Tianjun how he was caught and why he blackmailed the victim's family, and Li Tianjun answered them one by one. The court proceedings went smoothly and everything went smoothly.

Next came the evidence and cross-examination session. Both the defendant Li Tianjun and the defender Fang Yi recognized the evidence presented by the prosecutor's office. The facts of the case were admitted. There was indeed nothing to defend against the evidence.

“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 will speak first. "The presiding judge said in a routine manner.

"Presiding judge, judge: The prosecutor believes that... after Li Tianjun killed the victim, he wrote threatening letters to the victim's family for blackmail. He committed two acts before and after, which constituted the crime of intentional homicide and the crime of extortion respectively.

In view of his guilty plea and punishment after being brought to justice, we recommend that he be sentenced to death with a two-year suspended sentence. complete. "After the prosecutor finished speaking, he glanced at the defendant Li Tianjun, and then looked at the presiding judge.

Immediately after, the defendant defended himself. Li Tianjun's nose and tears flowed down, which fully demonstrated his determination to change his past mistakes.

"The defendant's defender will give his defense opinion below," the presiding judge said.

"Presiding judge, judge: The defender believes that after the defendant Li Tianjun killed the victim Zhou Bo, he wrote a blackmail letter in order to divert the investigation attention of the public security organs and cover up the crime. This constituted the crime of intentional homicide and did not constitute the crime of extortion. The reasons are as follows. :

1. Li Tianjun did not have the intention to illegally possess other people’s property, and it did not constitute extortion.

Extortion refers to an act in which the perpetrator takes advantage of the safety, reputation, reputation, etc. of the victim and his or her relatives, and uses threats, coercion, or coercion against the victim to forcibly extort relatively large amounts of public or private property for the purpose of illegal possession.

Subjectively, the perpetrator's purpose is illegal possession. Objectively, the perpetrator's behavior is to use threats and other means to forcibly obtain public and private property.

The evidence in the case cannot prove that Li Tianjun had the purpose of illegal possession. After the death of the victim, he wrote threatening letters to his relatives, falsely claiming that the victim had been kidnapped and asking for ransom. This was just to divert the investigation attention of the public security organs and cover up the murder, rather than for Illegal possession of other people's property. And it never thought about collecting ransom from the beginning to the end.

Objectively speaking, although Li Tianjun wrote the extortion letter, he did not actually go to the agreed site to collect the ransom. Therefore, Li Tianjun's behavior did not constitute the crime of extortion.

2. Defendant Li Tianjun’s behavior constitutes intentional homicide

When Li Tianjun had a dispute with the victim, he deliberately strangled the victim's neck and covered his mouth, causing the victim to become unconscious and then dumped the victim in the grass by the river, causing the victim to drown and die. His behavior constituted the crime of intentional homicide.

Because the defendant Li Tianjun intentionally carried out killing behaviors such as strangulation and covering the mouth to kill the victim Zhou Bo. After the victim was unconscious, Li Tianjun abandoned Wang in the ditch. This was not a cessation of the killing, but an act of dumping the corpse when the defendant subjectively believed that the victim was dead. This did not change his intention to commit murder. nature. Therefore, it constitutes intentional homicide.

3. The defendant has the circumstances to surrender.

After the incident, the defendant Li Tianjun was taken to the police station for questioning by the public security organs. The defendant immediately confessed the facts of the crime. The defender believed that the defendant had surrendered and could be given a lighter punishment.

To sum up, the defender believes that the defendant Li Tianjun committed intentional homicide, but after he was brought to trial, he truthfully confessed, confessed and accepted punishment, and had the circumstances to surrender. It is recommended that he be sentenced to life imprisonment. complete. "Fang Yi expressed his defense opinion.

Although the circumstances of the surrender in the defense opinion are somewhat false and may not be accepted by the court, Fang Yi searched through the case files and found no case facts that would benefit the defendant. He could only use whatever he had, in case the court accepted it. Woolen cloth.

…

Since the prosecution and defense have communicated for many rounds in advance and have reached a basic consensus on the facts of the case, the trial debate session is relatively mild and not so confrontational.

After a ten-minute adjournment, the presiding judge announced the verdict in court.

The Intermediate People's Court held that the fact that the public prosecution accused Li Tianjun of killing the victim Zhou Bo and writing a threatening letter was established, but it was inappropriate to think that Li Tianjun's behavior constituted intentional homicide and extortion. Defendant Li Tianjun kidnapped others and caused death for the purpose of extorting property, which constituted the crime of kidnapping.

Li Tianjun truthfully confessed his crime to the public security organs when the public security organs did not grasp the facts of his crime. He should be regarded as surrendering and may be given a lighter punishment.

The first-instance verdict: Defendant Li Tianjun was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to death with a two-year suspended sentence and deprived of political rights for life.

After the verdict was read out, Fang Yi was stunned, and the prosecutor opposite was also stunned. After several rounds of communication between the two parties, the court finally convicted him of kidnapping. It’s so fantasy!

Fang Yi was both surprised and amazed. He really couldn't understand the logic of the court's decision. In his opinion, the crime in this case must be intentional homicide. But the court's decision shattered his confidence into pieces.

Fang Yi sat in the dock and thought for a long time. In judicial practice, in the process of kidnapping, casualties of 'hostages' often occur, and the perpetrators of kidnapping may also kill 'hostages' for the purpose of silencing them. But all this is based on the fact that the perpetrators of kidnapping aim to extort property when carrying out the kidnapping, rather than to kill or injure.

In this case, Li Tianjun caused the victim to fall into coma during an argument with him, and then dumped the victim by the river. He subjectively had the intention to kill the victim. In order to divert the investigation attention of the public security organs, Li Tianjun wrote the extortion letter, but in fact the defendant did not collect the ransom. He wasn't there for the ransom from the beginning.

Moreover, when Li Tianjun wrote the blackmail letter to the defendant's family, the victim was already dead, and there was no situation where the kidnapped person was taken as a hostage. Objectively speaking, Li Tianjun did not commit any kidnapping. Therefore, Li Tianjun’s behavior should not constitute the crime of kidnapping.