After meeting with Wu, Wu's defense lawyer said that Wu had expressed his willingness to appeal, and he wrote an appeal and handed it to his lawyer.
Earlier, on the morning of August 26, the Intermediate People's Court of Fuzhou City, Fujian Province publicly pronounced the case of the defendant Wu's intentional homicide, fraud and buying and selling identity documents in the first instance. Defendant Wu committed the crime of intentional homicide, fraud and the crime of buying and selling identity documents, and was punished for several crimes. Decided to execute the death penalty, deprived of political rights for life, and fined103,000 yuan.
According to the lawyer, this case involves the death penalty, and the second trial must be heard; However, "it is unlikely that the judgment will be changed in the second instance."
Involving the death penalty, the second trial is expected to be held in public.
Appeal is the right of the defendant. When should the higher court decide whether to accept Wu's appeal?
Lawyer Yong Yang, director of Beijing Peng Jing Law Firm, said that whether the court accepts the appeal depends on the defendant's specific appeal method. If an appeal is filed through the court of first instance, the court of first instance shall directly examine whether it meets the appeal conditions, and the qualified court of first instance shall hand over the file to the court at the next higher level within three days after the expiration of the appeal period. If the defendant directly appeals to the court of second instance, the court of second instance needs to submit the appeal to the court of first instance within three days, and the court of first instance will examine whether it complies with the law. Eligible, the appeal and other files will be transferred to the court of second instance within three days.
According to Article 234 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the people's court of second instance shall form a collegial panel to hear four appeal cases, including the defendant being sentenced to death.
Lawyer Liu said that the first trial of Wu's case has been heard in public, indicating that the case does not involve state secrets or personal privacy, so the second trial should also be heard in public.
The second trial is generally concluded within two months.
After the court of second instance accepts the case, how long does it take to hold a court session to make a judgment?
Lawyer Yong Yang said that after the court of second instance accepts the appeal, it usually needs to conclude the case within two months. For cases that may be sentenced to death or incidental civil litigation cases, or major and complicated cases with four complicated situations in remote areas with very inconvenient transportation as stipulated in Article 158 of the Criminal Procedure Law; Major criminal group cases; Major and complicated escape criminal cases; Major and complex cases involving a wide range and difficulties in obtaining evidence may be extended for two months with the approval or decision of the higher people's courts of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. If there are special circumstances that need to be extended, it can be extended again after being approved by the Supreme Law.
Previously, the first trial of the Wu case lasted for 8 months from the trial to the verdict. On February 24th, 2020, 65438+, Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court held a public hearing. On August 26th, 20021year, the court pronounced the verdict in the first instance.
This case is unlikely to be changed.
"It is unlikely that the second instance will be changed." Lawyer Liu, director of Beijing Mugong Law Firm, told the Beijing News reporter that according to the information disclosed in the first instance of this case, it is difficult to find new lenient facts and evidence in the second instance.
Lawyer Liu introduced that in theory, the second instance procedure is based on the first instance judgment. If, after trial, the facts are clear, the evidence is sufficient, the charges are accurate, the sentence is appropriate and the trial procedure is legal, the original judgment shall be upheld.
There is public opinion that the motive for the murder in the Wu case has always been unknown. Is this likely to affect the judgment of the second instance?
"It's hard to make an impact." Lawyer Liu believes that if the circumstances of the crime of intentional homicide are particularly bad, even if there is a statutory lenient case of surrender, such as the murder of a passion fruit girl in Guangxi, it may not be lenient; Some mental patients with criminal responsibility may not be lenient even if they belong to circumstances that can be lightened or mitigated by law, such as the case of Huang Yichuan killing a primary school student in Shanghai. "What's more, the motive for murder is not a constituent element of intentional homicide, nor is it a statutory aggravating circumstance, but a discretionary circumstance that can be considered when sentencing."
"Of course, if there are new facts, such as suddenly exposing a major criminal act during the second trial, or making meritorious service, such as making other major contributions to the country and society, the death penalty can be commuted." Lawyer Liu said, "This possibility is almost zero in this case."
Article 68 of the Criminal Law stipulates meritorious service, clearly pointing out that criminals who have meritorious service such as exposing other people's criminal acts, verifying the facts or providing important clues to solve other cases may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment; Those who have made significant meritorious service may be mitigated or exempted from punishment.
The death penalty ruling must be approved by the Supreme Law.
"Even if the death penalty is upheld in the second instance, it must be reported to the Supreme Law for approval." Lawyer Liu said that general cases are final in the second instance, but death penalty cases are special. It will not take effect after the second trial, and it needs to go through the death penalty review procedure. The power to approve the death penalty is the supreme law.
Lawyer Liu said that the Supreme People's Court's review of death penalty cases is a special procedure, which is mainly a written trial, that is, there is no court session, but the parties concerned should be tried and the opinions of defense lawyers should be heard. Generally, in order to submit written defense opinions, you can also listen to lawyers' opinions in person upon request.
Generally speaking, the President of the Supreme Court will issue a death sentence execution order soon after the Supreme Law makes a ruling approving the death penalty, but there are also times when the interval is longer. The time limit between approving the death penalty ruling and issuing the death penalty execution order is not clear in law.