Brief Introduction to the Case

On December 18, 2016, Chen had a dispute with Luo due to his unwillingness to lend him money. During the argument, Luo stabbed Chen with a fruit knife. According to forensic identification, Chen's injury is classified as serious injury level 2. On January 8, 2017, Luo was detained by the public security bureau and arrested on January 18 of the same year.

On March 30, 2017, Luo's family approached Lawyer Dai Xiaohong and Lawyer Li Qin from Guangdong Legal Shengbang Law Firm and entrusted them to serve as Luo's defense counsel. Through effective defense, Luo was sentenced to one year's imprisonment and two years' probation on June 2, 2017.

Intentionally causing serious injury to a person is a serious crime, and the sentencing period stipulated in the Criminal Law is three to ten years. How can professional criminal defense lawyers effectively defend the party and directly exempt them from actual punishment? This article will reveal the answer for you.

1、 Fully understand the case and determine defense strategies.

Through communication with family members, meeting with the client Luo, and reviewing the case in court, Lawyers Dai Xiaohong and Li Qin learned about the entire process of the case, as well as Luo's confession of stabbing and injuring Chen. Moreover, Luo and Chen's statements of the facts are highly consistent, and there is no distortion of the facts such as injustice or torture.

So the defense strategy was determined to be a plea for leniency, and efforts were made to achieve the best defense effect of probation for the parties involved.

The defense of leniency, also known as sentencing defense, refers to a defense method in which the defendant, on the premise of pleading guilty, achieves the goal of leniency and mitigation of punishment by considering the defendant's subjective malice, degree of fault, victim's fault, defendant's attitude of confession and repentance, as well as the presence or absence of voluntary surrender and meritorious service.

2、 Sort out existing evidence and actively collect all evidence that is beneficial to the parties involved.

Taking into account this case, it is necessary to find all the circumstances that are conducive to mitigating the punishment of the parties involved. Lawyers Dai Xiaohong and Li Qin have sorted out the facts and evidence that are beneficial to Luo:

1. The injury caused by Luo to Chen was caused by a civil dispute, and Chen had a major fault for borrowing money from Luo;

2. Luo has a confession plot;

3. Luo paid all the medical expenses during Chen's treatment period and compensated Chen with an additional 10000 yuan.

The above facts are very beneficial to the case, which can directly reduce the sentencing threshold for intentional injury causing serious injury to a person from more than three years to less than three years, which is directly reflected in the "sentencing recommendations" submitted by the procuratorate to the court.

But the above facts are not enough to completely restore the client's freedom, which is the purpose of lawyers.

With this goal in mind, the two lawyers decided on the next steps: 1. Striving for the victim's understanding and requesting their withdrawal; 2. Contact the village committee where the defendant is located to request the issuance of a "Probation Supervision Certificate"; 3. Actively communicate with the judge and strive for their sympathy.

To obtain the victim's understanding, firstly, it is necessary to emotionally make him forgive the defendant, and secondly, it is necessary to provide the victim with acceptable compensation economically. This job is often not satisfactory when done by the defendant's family members, as they also have emotions and often cannot communicate effectively, which can exacerbate conflicts. At this time, it is particularly important to have a rational lawyer intervene.

After lawyers Dai Xiaohong and Li Qin intervened in the case, they first called the victim Chen to identify themselves, explain their intentions, apologize, and objectively analyze the pros and cons. It is necessary to mention that after the victim knows that the defendant wants to obtain understanding, they often speak up and demand high compensation, which tests the lawyer's communication skills and patience.

After learning that the parties were unable to meet the victim's compensation requirements, the two lawyers adopted a strategy of "avoiding their sharp edges", first rejecting the victim's plan and no longer contacting him, giving the victim a anxious time. After about two weeks, the defense lawyer called the victim again and offered the highest compensation that seemed possible. In the end, about a month later, the lawyer finally successfully obtained the "Letter of Understanding" issued by the victim and convinced the parties to withdraw the criminal incidental civil litigation, saving costs for the parties and obtaining another evidence in favor of the defendant.

3、 Actively communicate with the judge about the situation and progress of the case.

It is important to communicate the case with the judge at all times. We all know that Chinese judges are particularly busy and often have to handle multiple cases at the same time. If they do not actively communicate with them about the case, they will not have time to pay attention to our case, and often only have time to scrutinize the files during court sessions.

So when the case was transferred to the court for prosecution, the two lawyers contacted the presiding judge. And actively instill plot and facts that are beneficial to the parties involved. For important facts such as understanding reached by both parties and the withdrawal of the victim's lawsuit, it is necessary to actively provide feedback to the judge. If necessary, assist in handling some work, such as the victim's withdrawal request being drafted by two lawyers and notified to be mailed to the court, which can greatly reduce the workload of the judge.

The communication work after the court session is also important, as it can remind the judge to issue a judgment early. The fact proves that the communication between Lawyer Dai Xiaohong and Lawyer Li Qin was effective. The case was only transferred to the court on March 30, 2017, and a probation judgment was issued on June 2, 2017.

4、 Apply for bail pending trial before the judgment is issued.

After the court session, Lawyers Dai Xiaohong and Li Qin predicted that the defense effect in the case was good and they are expected to receive a suspended sentence from the court. But it takes time for the judgment to be issued, how can the parties be freed early? The two lawyers came up with the idea of applying for bail pending trial, because if the sentence could provide a reprieve, the court would not refuse bail pending trial. Therefore, the lawyer applied to the court for bail pending trial. And as expected, the court's consent was obtained.

The above is how a professional criminal defense lawyer can grasp the factual circumstances that are beneficial to the defendant in a case of intentional injury causing serious injury, collect all evidence that is beneficial to the defendant, and achieve the entire process of effective defense. I hope it will be beneficial to all judges.

 

Lawyer Dai Xiaohong

Full time lawyer at Guangdong Legal Shengbang Law Firm, Deputy Chairman of the Guangzhou Comprehensive Third Branch of Civil Construction, Executive Director and Deputy Secretary General of the Criminology Research Association of Guangdong Law Society; Director of the Law Research Association of Guangdong Provincial Law Society; Member of Guangzhou Internet Finance Association. Handle hundreds of civil and commercial cases related to private lending, loan disputes, marriage and family, inheritance, etc.

 

Lawyer Li Qin

Guangdong Legal Shengbang Law Firm is a full-time lawyer who graduated from Guangxi University with a Bachelor's degree in Law in 2011 and has five years of legal experience. I have worked in the legal department of Fortune Global 500 companies, real estate development companies, and other companies, with some practical experience in corporate law. I am familiar with marriage and family affairs, labor and personnel, company affairs, traffic accidents, criminal defense, and other related businesses.