In handling cases of confession and punishment, it is necessary to prevent criminal suspects and defendants from admitting mistakes, pleading guilty and admitting mistakes, and to protect their procedural rights and substantive rights according to law. It is necessary to defend them from the following three aspects, which I sum up as the "three-step rule".
1 Review whether to admit the crime: the facts are clear.
Clear criminal facts are the premise of pleading guilty, and clear criminal facts confirmed by evidence are the object of pleading guilty. In any criminal case, the conditions for prosecution and the standard of proof should not be lowered just because of the confession and punishment. Even if the substance is lenient and the procedure is simple, the agreement of confession and punishment must be fulfilled on the basis of finding out the facts of the crime.
When a lawyer handles a guilty plea case, he first needs to examine whether there is a crime of admitting his mistake-
First, whether the alleged criminal facts are clear;
Second, whether the alleged criminal facts are confirmed by conclusive and sufficient evidence;
Third, the object of pleading guilty is to verify the facts of the crime, not to "plead guilty" according to the requirements of the case-handling organ. The fact confirmed by evidence is the only indicator to judge whether the confession is true, and it is also the only indicator to examine whether the accused criminal facts are clear. It must be admitted that the alleged criminal facts may also be wrong.
2 Review whether the confession is wrong: true and voluntary.
Authenticity and voluntariness are the keys to repentance and punishment. Lawyers need help to identify and correct criminal suspects and defendants, and make false and involuntary confession and punishment based on wrong factual cognition and wrong confession and punishment. We can judge the authenticity and voluntariness of confession and punishment from the following three aspects:
First, criminal suspects and defendants were completely and accurately informed of the alleged criminal facts. The case-handling organ has the obligation to clearly inform the accused criminal facts, including the main facts and detailed facts;
Second, criminal suspects and defendants have a complete and accurate understanding of the recorded evidence of alleged criminal facts. The case-handling organ shall disclose the evidence according to law to ensure that the criminal suspect and defendant "knowingly commit crimes" and avoid being misled by "deception, threat or inducement" to make untrue confessions and punishments;
Third, criminal suspects and defendants have a complete and accurate understanding of the legal system of leniency in confession and repentance, including conditions, legal consequences and applicable procedures. The case-handling organ shall fulfill the obligation of comprehensive and accurate legal notification according to law, and ensure the authenticity and voluntariness of confession and punishment.
3 Review whether you are guilty or not: freedom of choice
As a consultative criminal justice system, confession and punishment is the consensus reached by both the prosecution and the defense, and it is necessary to ensure the freedom of choice in the negotiation process and the freedom of choice in the negotiation result. Lawyers can examine and judge whether there is a situation in which they cannot freely choose to plead guilty from the following three aspects in handling cases of pleading guilty and admitting punishment:
First, whether the negotiation process of confession and punishment is equal and free. Confession and punishment is not a single judicial process of "one party is willing to fight and the other party is willing to accept", but the recognition and acceptance of crime and punishment on the premise of clear facts and sufficient evidence. The process of negotiation cannot be achieved overnight, and it needs a process of constant coordination and repeated communication. In particular, the case-handling organs fully guarantee the expression of different opinions and can listen to and consider them according to law, and put an end to the willful judicial behavior of the case-handling organs giving multiple-choice questions;
Second, the penalty results are negotiated on an equal footing. The premise of determining the penalty is to ensure that the criminal suspect and the defendant have a comprehensive and clear understanding of the statutory penalty and sentencing circumstances corresponding to the criminal facts, and fully express their opinions on the penalty results, so that both the prosecution and the defense can reach an agreement through equal and effective consultation;
Third, the freedom of choice of criminal suspects and defendants. Criminal suspects and defendants should enjoy the right of free choice when they plead guilty and admit punishment and pursue voluntariness and truthfulness. Including admission and denial, admission early or late, admission more or less, admission this or that, freedom of repentance. It should be emphasized that criminal suspects and defendants have the freedom to repent at all stages, and they can withdraw their confession and repentance in different ways. However, the withdrawal of confession and punishment does not necessarily lead to the change of compulsory measures and the aggravation of punishment results, which is an insurmountable obstacle to the adaptation of crime and punishment