According to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, the court of second instance shall handle criminal cases separately according to the following circumstances:
(1) The original judgment determined the facts and applied the law correctly, and the sentence was appropriate , the appeal or protest shall be dismissed and the original judgment shall be upheld;
(2) The original judgment has no errors in determining the facts, but there are errors in the application of the law, or the sentencing is inappropriate, and the sentence should be changed;
(3) If the facts in the original judgment are unclear or the evidence is insufficient, the judgment may be changed after the facts are ascertained; the original judgment may also be revoked and remanded to the original People's Court for a new trial.
Therefore, although the second-instance court changed the verdict to plead guilty, if the second-instance court believes that the original judgment was correct in determining the facts and applying the law, and the sentence was appropriate, it will still rule to reject the appeal, uphold the original judgment, and not change the first-instance judgment.
Criminal Procedure Law
Article 225: After the second-instance people’s court hears an appeal or protest case against the first-instance judgment, it shall handle it separately according to the following circumstances:
(1) If the original judgment determines the facts and applies the law correctly, and the sentence is appropriate, the appeal or protest shall be dismissed and the original judgment shall be upheld;
(2) The original judgment has no error in determining the facts, but If there is an error in the application of the law or the sentence is inappropriate, the sentence should be changed;
(3) If the facts in the original judgment are unclear or the evidence is insufficient, the sentence may be changed after the facts are ascertained; the original judgment may also be revoked and the sentence issued. Return the case to the original People's Court for a new trial.
After the first-instance People’s Court makes a judgment on a case remanded for retrial in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of the preceding paragraph, if the defendant appeals or the People’s Procuratorate protests, the second-instance People’s Court shall make a judgment or ruling in accordance with the law. , will not be sent back to the People's Court of First Instance for retrial.