"We often say that justice is the last line of defense for social fairness and justice. The revision of this case makes me feel that the legal supervision of the procuratorial organs is the last line of defense in this last line of defense. If legal supervision fails, fairness and justice may fail. So this is a sacred and heavy responsibility. We must perform our duties with awe, handle every case with high quality and efficiency, and protect this sacred last line of defense." On February 1, at the Supreme People's Procuratorate At the on-site report meeting of "Procuratorial Stories in the New Era - Handling Every Case with High Quality and Efficiency", Guo Zhumei, prosecutor of the Second Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and senior prosecutor II, told about "Xin Long's intentional homicide case protested by the Supreme People's Procuratorate" "the story behind.
Guo Zhumei told the story behind "Xin Long's intentional homicide case protested by the Supreme People's Procuratorate" on the stage. The Paper reporter Liu Lu Picture
The case happened eight years ago.
Guo Zhumei introduced that at about 6:20 a.m. on March 6, 2015, the victim Zhang Mouyan was found dead downstairs in her home. The evidence in the case can confirm that her boyfriend Xin Long had been there on the night of March 5 (Lantern Festival). The victim at the scene of the crime was suspected of committing a major crime, but he refused to admit that he caused the victim's death. Did Xin Long kill someone? The verdict of the case had twists and turns. The first instance found Xin Long guilty of homicide and sentenced him to a suspended death sentence. Later, after Xin Long appealed, the verdict was changed to not guilty. The victim's family has been dissatisfied and appealed to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
"After I took over the case, the top priority of the review was whether Xin Long was the real murderer." Guo Zhumei recalled, "The first question I considered was, what was the reason for acquittal in the original trial? The original judge believed that the victim in this case The time of death cannot be determined; the period of about 2 hours between the defendant's departure and the discovery of the victim's body is blank; there are multiple suspected footprints left at the victim's residence that have not been compared, and the evidence is not reliable and sufficient, and a third party cannot be ruled out. There is reasonable suspicion that the person committed the crime."
However, after reviewing the evidence on record, Guo Zhumei believed that the reasons for the acquittal were not established. At the
report meeting, Guo Zhumei shared the findings during the review of the evidence in the case. First, Xin Long had a motive for committing the crime. Xin Long had an emotional dispute with the victim, and the conflict intensified seriously. Second, the crime scene conforms to the characteristics of an acquaintance committing a crime. Third, Xin Long had the time and conditions to commit the crime. Fourth, although Xin Long did not admit to killing the victim, he firmly confessed that he covered the victim's mouth and nose to stop the victim from screaming on the night of the incident. This is consistent with the autopsy results that the victim died of mechanical asphyxiation due to external force. Fifth, the biological test materials extracted on site only detected the DNA of Xin Long and Zhang Mouyan. Sixth, neighbors downstairs confirmed that a man and a woman were fighting and arguing upstairs until 3 a.m. Xin Long’s mobile phone location showed that Xin Long had not left at that time. "Based on the analysis of the evidence in the entire case, the organizer believes that Xin Long is convinced that he committed the murder," Guo Zhumei said.
Guo Zhumei introduced at the sharing meeting that work on strengthening evidence was focused on this case. (1) Go to the place where the crime occurred to have discussions with the procuratorial organs and former investigators of Liaoning Province and Dalian City to gain an in-depth understanding of the relevant situation. (2) Re-examine the crime scene, re-collect evidence, and commission an appraisal. (3) Investigate Xin Long. Carefully design the outline of the investigation and inquiry, pay attention to the questioning strategies and techniques during the inquiry, use a "chatty" approach, care about Xin Long's living conditions, and prompt Xin Long to relax his vigilance. Compared with the previous interrogation transcripts during the investigation stage, there are five or six key issues Obtained a major breakthrough in oral confession. (4) The Ministry of Public Security was entrusted to re-examine the suspected footprints. In the end, experts unanimously tended to conclude that the suspected shoe prints at the scene were left by Xin Long.
"After strengthening the evidence, it can be determined that Xin Long had not left when the victim died. The suspected footprints at the scene were left by Xin Long. This can eliminate the reasonable suspicion that a third person committed the crime. It can be determined that Xin Long caused the injury by pressing the victim's mouth and nose on the night of the incident. He died and his body was thrown downstairs to make it look like suicide. Based on this, I put forward the opinion that the original judgment was wrong and should be corrected through a protest." Guo Zhumei said that after that, the case was reviewed by the Supreme Procuratorate and Procuratorate and decided to protest, and the Supreme Court ordered a retrial. After Dalian The Municipal Intermediate Court and the Liaoning Provincial High Court changed the sentence of Xin Long to death with a suspended death sentence for intentional homicide in the first and second instances.
Mentioning the difficulties in handling the case, Guo Zhumei said with emotion, "For example, going from guilty to innocent is to demolish a house, and from innocent to guilty is to build a house. We all know that when building a house, the four beams and eight pillars must be stable before the house can stand. For a case, the material of building a house is the evidence. This case is a "zero confession" murder case, which needs to be finalized through indirect evidence. The most difficult thing is to make up for the old case that was fully investigated 6 years ago. It is almost an 'impossible task' to prove the case."
But as a prosecutor, Guo Zhumei knows very well that "the basic responsibilities of prosecutors are to find out the truth, pursue crimes, and provide legal supervision. In order to live up to this responsibility, we must make unremitting efforts. "In the end, it took three years to turn the impossible into possible, leading to the change of sentence in Xin Long's intentional homicide case.
