Because in a criminal case, the people's court needs to resolve two issues
The first issue is whether the defendant's behavior constitutes a crime, i.e., conviction.
The second issue is what penalty should be applied if the defendant's behavior constitutes a crime, i.e., sentencing.
In China's criminal justice practice, most cases at the trial stage are found guilty, and the people's court has no problem deciding guilt.
However, misdemeanor sentencing has a certain universality, especially in the presence of external factors, or the judge ignored the circumstances in favor of the defendant.
1. It's almost June when people are killed and severely punished on the annual drug day. In June, drug prices usually go up.
Why?
Since June 26 is the International Day Against Drugs, according to the convention, the judiciary will kill many people and punish them heavily around the drug day.
To avoid being sacrificed on Drug Day, many drug criminals are restrained, making fewer drugs available in the market and causing drug prices to rise.
A few years ago, after the anti-drug day, there was a case in which the person was controlled to make drugs.
In this case, my client's accomplice sold 5 kilograms of drugs. However, my client was only accused of manufacturing more than 40 grams of finished products and more than 20 grams of semi-finished products. During the trial, local deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) attended, and a reporter was involved in the coverage, presumably on TV.
During the trial, the *** offender entered a plea of not guilty, but my client confessed truthfully to his crime.
Because the mace was produced in low concentrations, the finished product did not reach 50 grams, and the semi-finished product was only slightly more than 50 grams, so at the time I thought my client should be sentenced to 15 years.
Who knows, on the day of sentencing, the *** offender was sentenced to death and my client was sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, the Provincial High Court, after a new trial, sentenced my client to 15 years in prison.
Do you know the difference between 15 years and life?
Life-sentenced criminals who show genuine repentance or merit during the execution period can generally have their sentences reduced to a term of imprisonment of at least 18 but not more than 20 years after serving two years. In other words, a life-sentenced prisoner usually stays at least five years longer than a 15-year life-sentenced prisoner.
2. Meritorious Circumstances on the Negligent Side of the First Judgment
That was a long time ago, too. I did a drug trafficking case.
When the party arrived, the police asked: do you have any other downline?
The party said: it also sold it to Zhang San, but the address and Zhang San's basic situation is not clear.
The police said: yes, brother, please take us there. The party is going with the police.
And sure enough, the party gave the police a big gift. The police searched the residence for more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and arrested Zhang San, who was using drugs with others, on the spot.
It was not an assisted arrest, it should have been a meritorious one! However, surprisingly, the police, prosecutors, the first trial judge and the first trial defense lawyers did not realize that he had meritorious service, so he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In the second trial, I intervened in the case and applied to the second trial court to verify, in accordance with the law, whether the appellant had meritorious performance.
The organizing judge wrote to the investigating authorities.
The investigating authorities issued a statement of circumstances and were unable to pinpoint Zhang San because the appellant could not provide a specific address or the specifics of Zhang San. The appellant Zhang San in the case time for the appellant Zhang to resolve.