Wu pleaded guilty in his self-defense and begged the court to give him a chance to turn over a new leaf. He said that he was writing a self-report material, hoping that it would serve as a warning to the world. After the death sentence was pronounced, Wu's father's relatives and friends expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict and hoped that Wu would not be sentenced to death. Wu's uncle signed a letter of understanding, saying that he would support Wu's appeal.
A criminal letter of understanding is a written legal document issued by the victim of a criminal case, in which the victim and the criminal suspect or their families reach a settlement on the outcome of the criminal case, which plays a discretionary role in the criminal law.
The criminal letter of understanding itself has no fixed format, and the purpose of issuing the letter of understanding is to reduce the punishment of the criminal suspect. The letter of understanding shall specify the facts that caused the victim's injury, and indicate that both parties have reached an agreement on compensation and the actual compensation has ended. The focus of the letter of understanding should clearly indicate that the victim has understood, and at the same time, the victim requests the judicial organ to agree to give a lighter punishment to the criminal suspect and defendant.
The death penalty is undoubtedly the price Wu paid for killing his mother. According to the principle of combined punishment for several crimes stipulated in the criminal law, even if there are other crimes, he will be absorbed. Therefore, whether he commits fraud or whether he buys or sells identity documents will not change the result of the death penalty.
This death sentence is undoubtedly in line with most people's view of justice. Since it is only the result of the first trial at present, if Wu appeals, he will also enter the second trial. In fact, in the past few days after the verdict was pronounced in the first instance, people were very puzzled about why Wu had changed from a bully and a lovely child in the eyes of outsiders to a cruel mother-killer. Some media even talked about "his father, friends and family: refusing to accept the verdict." They had hoped that Wu would not be sentenced to death.
The motive of killing mentioned by Wu in court trial is still "loving mother". The court also found that Wu was pessimistic and had suicidal thoughts. After his father died, he thought his mother's life was meaningless and had the idea of killing her. Although such a motive for killing is very cold, it is inevitable that there is still a trace of sympathy. This may also be the reason why some people do not want Wu to be sentenced to death.
However, the most prominent function of the death penalty is the retribution and prevention of punishment. It first focuses on retribution, that is, karma, and also achieves the purpose of deterrence and prevention to others in society. As far as the means and consequences of killing people are concerned, Wu slammed Xie's head and face with dumbbells when Xie went home to change shoes, causing his death. It is no exaggeration to evaluate this with "heinous".
As stated in the judgment of the first instance, Wu's long-term premeditated and planned murder is extremely subjective and vicious, and his criminal means are cruel. Moreover, the mother-killing behavior seriously violates family ethics, tramples on normal human feelings and has extremely bad social impact. Although the facts of the crime were truthfully confessed after arriving at the case, it was not enough to give him a lighter punishment.
Such a sentence seems to be difficult to change the fate of the death penalty, whether it is the understanding of relatives or the sympathy for Wu's imaginary motives. Of course, this case is still in the process of litigation. Even if Wu doesn't appeal, the Supreme Law also has a death penalty review procedure. Therefore, the "uncertainty" of this death penalty case will continue for some time.