From innocence to life! Decrypt the drug case handling process that lasted nearly four years and seven sessions.
CCTV News:Not long ago, the Guangdong Higher People’s Court, in the second instance, changed the result of a drug case. The defendant was commuted from innocence to life imprisonment. There is nothing special about this drug case itself, but its trial process is extremely tortuous and difficult. The case has gone through seven sessions in the past four years. From innocence to life, what kind of tortuous experience is behind the verdict?
Why did the thought change from "zero confession" to writing a confession?
In July 2019, a letter sent from Panyu District Detention Center in Guangzhou was placed on the desk of He Xiongwei, the prosecutor of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate. The letter was sent by Liu Youdi, a criminal in a drug trafficking case. She wrote in the letter, "Please meet He Xiongwei. Now I am willing to plead guilty, admit my mistake and truthfully explain the case." Just a month ago, Liu Youdi was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Guangdong Higher People’s Court for drug trafficking. In court, she never pleaded guilty. So what makes her mind change so dramatically now? What kind of waves are behind this drug case?
On December 21, 2015, the Public Security Bureau of Panyu District, Guangzhou received a report that someone was dealing in drugs near a building in Panyu District. After grasping the clues, the police immediately went to arrest. The location of the arrest was in an alley. After groping, the police quickly found the target vehicle. After exploring the surrounding terrain, they made a detailed plan and launched the arrest operation.
Police of Panyu Branch of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau:As soon as I walked past, I knocked on the woman’s window. She opened the window. When I opened the window, I saw that she seemed to have left the steering wheel with her hands, and she was still playing with her mobile phone. I felt that it was time. I immediately put my hands in and controlled her hands.
At that time, the woman in the car did not resist too much, and the arresting personnel quickly controlled her, and other police officers immediately gathered around and searched the vehicle. Soon, they found a bag on the mat in the passenger seat.
Police of Panyu Branch of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau:Before I opened it, she said that the bag was not mine, and she knew that it must be illegal, so she said that it was not mine.
The woman who found drugs in the car argued that she was framed.
After testing, the items contained in the plastic bag extracted by the police from the woman’s car that day were confirmed to be ice, weighing 1000.06 grams. As a result, Panyu police detained the female object Liu Youdi, but in the subsequent trial, she always denied that the bag of ice was her own. Liu Youdi said that she is a Wechat business who is engaged in bird’s nest business. On that day, she took some bird’s nest for her friend Zhou to help sell, and this bag was put in the car when Zhou left. Liu Youdi said that there was an economic dispute between her and Zhou, so she suspected that this bag of drugs was used by Zhou to frame herself.
In the subsequent investigation, the police also found that just the day before Liu Youdi was arrested, she had been to Shanwei, Guangdong Province, and her own explanation was to go to Shanwei to find someone to buy bird’s nest. Liu Youdi not only refused to admit this series of evidence pointing to her suspected crime, but also had his own set of rhetoric, which also made the prosecutor of Panyu District Procuratorate doubt whether he could approve the arrest.
Zheng Shaochun, Procurator of Panyu District People’s Procuratorate, Guangzhou:Then at that time, the preliminary judgment was that there was no direct and objective evidence to rule out her excuses, including my own manager’s opinion, and they all tended to say that the case was in doubt and not arrested.
Get the key words of new evidence to attract the attention of the prosecution
Seven days is the time limit for the procuratorate to review the arrest. Just as the prosecutor was preparing to make an opinion not to approve the arrest, the public security organ provided new evidence in time, a WeChat record of communication related to Liu Youdi. Among these massive electronic evidence, some key words attracted the attention of the prosecutor.
Zheng Shaochun, Procurator of Panyu District People’s Procuratorate, Guangzhou:He said that if he was afraid of being arrested by the police or the police, he mentioned some very sensitive words. Also said that you brought me several sets, and mentioned some similar transactions. At that time, after listening to this recording, we strengthened our conviction and should be able to rule out her excuse.
The case encountered twists and turns when it entered the stage of review and prosecution.
According to the preliminary investigation and evidence collection, Panyu District People’s Procuratorate approved the arrest of Liu Youdi according to law, and then the case entered the stage of review and prosecution. The prosecutor found that from the chat record, Liu Youdi had a very close relationship with Zhou who appeared in her car on the day of the incident. It should be said that Zhou was also a very key witness in the case. But in the existing evidence, there is no material of her testimony. Under the existing evidence, the procuratorate can only prosecute Liu Youdi for the crime of illegal possession of drugs.
Wang Chaoxia, Procurator of Panyu District People’s Procuratorate:In this case, through WeChat chat, it can be confirmed that this drug was taken by Liu Youdi from other places. At least there is illegal possession of drugs involved, which can be proved to be Liu Youdi’s. At that time, in the absence of drug buyers, we temporarily transferred the crime of illegal possession of drugs to Panyu District People’s Court for prosecution.
Obtain the testimony of key witnesses and prosecute for drug trafficking
In this way, after three court sessions, that is, one year after the crime, the public security organs heard new news. They found the key witness Zhou, and got her transcript materials. In her testimony, Liu Youdi was mentioned to have bought and sold drugs. As a result, the nature of the case changed. So Panyu District People’s Procuratorate changed the charges against Liu Youdi and brought a public prosecution to the court for drug trafficking.
Wang Chaoxia, Procurator of Panyu District People’s Procuratorate:After the change of prosecution, because the number of drug trafficking has reached more than life imprisonment and reached the standard of upward adjustment, the case was withdrawn after communicating with the court and was raised to the Guangzhou People’s Procuratorate for prosecution.
The prosecution changed the accusation and waited for the court to hear it.
After obtaining new evidence, the procuratorate changed from "illegal possession of drugs" to "drug trafficking" and filed a public prosecution with the court. However, the next court trial process was full of twists and turns. In the trial, the first problem is the "zero confession".
Chen Shufen, Procurator of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Procuratorate:We have studied all the evidence very carefully, and we have formed an inner conviction by synthesizing the evidence of the whole case. The evidence of the whole case should meet the prosecution standard of clear criminal facts and sufficient evidence.
The accusation is proved guilty through two aspects of evidence.
In August 2017, the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court held a hearing on this drug crime case. In court, the confrontation between the prosecution and the defense was very fierce. Since Liu Youdi did not plead guilty from beginning to end, it is necessary for the procuratorate to charge her with guilt. Work hard on the evidence.
Chen Shufen, Procurator of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Procuratorate:So to accuse a "zero confession" crime, we need to have a lot of objective evidence to support it, as well as the corresponding verbal evidence, that is, witness testimony. The objective evidence and verbal evidence can form a complete proof system, and in this case, we can identify the crime.
In the court trial, the prosecutor mainly confirmed each other through objective evidence and verbal evidence, proving that the case has reached the standard of clear facts and sufficient evidence, and can eliminate reasonable doubt, which is enough to confirm Liu Youdi’s conviction for drug trafficking.
Defender insists on innocent defense and questions witness testimony.
On the other hand, Liu Youdi’s defenders insisted on pleading not guilty. They believed that the public security organs did not collect evidence from the witness Zhou until one year after the crime, and many contents in the testimony were inconsistent with what the witness said in court. The defenders questioned the authenticity of this witness’s testimony. They thought that Zhou might lie and could not rule out the situation that she framed Liu Youdi.
The facts are unclear and the evidence is insufficient.
On February 2, 2018, the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court pronounced the case in the first instance. The court held that the evidence on which the defendant Liu Youdi constituted the crime of drug trafficking did not form a complete proof system, did not meet the legal proof standard of sufficient evidence, and did not meet the conviction requirements of clear basic facts and conclusive basic evidence, and could not rule out reasonable doubt. According to relevant laws, the defendant Liu Youdi was acquitted.
The prosecution filed a protest to supplement the corresponding evidence.
After the verdict of the first instance came out, the prosecutors also began to reflect. They reorganized the evidence materials of this case and thought that although the witness testimony in court was repeated, the evidence of the case did not change fundamentally. As long as the relevant evidence was reinforced, the case could still reach the conviction standard of clear criminal facts and sufficient evidence, so the Guangzhou People’s Procuratorate decided to lodge a protest against this case.
Chen Shufen, Procurator of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Procuratorate:For this case, we feel that we should be convicted and then acquitted. We also feel that the evidence is sufficient, and our prosecution is supported by evidence and has a legal basis. In this case, we feel it is necessary to push this lawsuit forward. It is by protesting this litigation procedure that this second trial procedure is pulled.
After the protest opinions were reported step by step, they were supported by the Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. At the same time, the Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate also put forward some suggestions to strengthen the relevant evidence.
How does the prosecution consolidate the evidence when entering the second trial stage?
The case entered the second trial stage, and it was handed over to He Xiongwei, deputy director of the First Procuratorate of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate. However, in his view, this case still needs to be strengthened in some evidence.
After taking over the case, the prosecutor He Xiongwei quickly entered the marking work. At the same time, he also browsed the relevant reports about the case online, and some netizens’ doubts about the case coincided with his thoughts.
He Xiongwei, Deputy Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate:I also saw some comments at that time. Many netizens said that the suspected crime never ensured that the innocent people would not be investigated by law. Whose one kilogram of drugs was it? There must be a drug crime in it. You let this man go, then who should be responsible for this kilo of drugs?
Who should be responsible for this kilogram of drugs? It is also the fact that the prosecutor He Xiongwei wants to find out. Liu Youdi said that he went to Shanwei to buy bird’s nest the day before the incident. After consulting all the files, he questioned Liu Youdi’s remarks.
He Xiongwei, Deputy Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate:Bird’s nest is counted by one lamp. She said how many, and then there were a lot of drug code words. For example, she mentioned that I’m not afraid of being detected by the police, and I don’t take drugs.
These inferences of the prosecutor need to be proved by more solid evidence. If there is no stronger evidence, it is still very difficult to change the judgment of the case.
Prosecutors lead the way to find drugs to go home.
After reviewing the files repeatedly, He Xiongwei found a person, a key breakthrough. He analyzed that if Liu Youdi went to Shanwei to buy drugs, then the man she contacted in Shanwei at that time, who was called "Lao Chen", was probably her family. Coincidentally, in another drug crime case handled by He Xiongwei, the name "Lao Chen" also appeared.
He Xiongwei, Deputy Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate:It happened that I was lucky enough to handle another case, which was a drug trafficking gang. In the process of reviewing the case file, I found that all four people in this case identified a person named "Lao Chen". At that time, I thought about the case of Liu Youdi, whose last family was also called "Lao Chen".
After in-depth investigation, He Xiongwei found that the "Lao Chen" in these two unrelated cases were very similar. They both lived in Shanwei, and many characteristics were consistent. More and more evidence proved that the two "Lao Chen" were the same person. So, He Xiongwei immediately informed the public security organs to investigate this "old Chen" in depth, and at the same time, he also asked the court to take Liu Youdi, who had been released on bail pending trial, into custody.
He Xiongwei, Deputy Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate:We also issued an official letter suggesting that the provincial court arrest her. The provincial court made a decision to arrest after the collegial panel’s deliberation and approval.
“preceding player (in card or mahjong playing)"Arrested to grasp the core evidence of the case.
Soon, with the cooperation of public security departments at all levels, the criminal suspect Chen Mou was arrested in Shanwei. After investigation, the criminal evidence of drug trading between Chen Mou and Liu Youdi also surfaced. In this way, the key evidence of this case was finally found. In the second trial, this evidence also became the core evidence against Liu Youdi for drug trafficking. In the trial of the second instance of Guangdong Higher People’s Court, the prosecutor presented several sets of evidence to prove that Liu Youdi had the fact of selling drugs, but in the face of these evidences, Liu Youdi once again argued that he was innocent for various reasons.
On June 14, 2019, the Guangdong Higher People’s Court pronounced the case in the second instance. The court held that, in view of the fact that Liu Youdi had been found guilty of drug trafficking in the second instance, the Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate’s protest against Liu Youdi’s request for a revised sentence for drug trafficking was found to be sufficient and adopted. Therefore, the court revoked the acquittal of the first instance and considered that Liu Youdi constituted a drug trafficking crime.
The trial of the case ended, but the prosecutor’s heart was still unresolved.
This case was changed from innocence to life imprisonment, which made all the judicial personnel who worked hard feel very relieved, but prosecutor He Xiongwei still had a knot in his heart, that is, Liu Youdi never admitted his guilt.
Before the trial of the second instance, He Xiongwei went to Panyu several times to interrogate Liu Youdi. Although she never pleaded guilty in court, on July 9, 2019, less than one month after the verdict of the second instance was pronounced, she wrote such a letter in Panyu District Detention Center, saying that she wanted to see the prosecutor He Xiongwei and expressed her willingness to admit her crimes. Liu Youdi said that she had a boyfriend who was a wealthy businessman. Since she had no source of income, her boyfriend gave her some money to do some business. But she spent the money elsewhere.
Criminal Liu Youdi:Gave me money, and then I didn’t do business, so I renovated the house without telling him. After decorating the house, I bought all kinds of materials, leaving hundreds of thousands like this.
The rest of the money, in Liu Youdi’s view, can’t do any big business. She was too embarrassed to talk to her boyfriend again, so she turned to her friend for help, so the other party found her a so-called crooked way to make money.
Criminal Liu Youdi:She told me to introduce you to a way to make money quickly. I asked her what it was, and she said selling drugs.
I was lucky enough not to plead guilty, but now I regret it.
Liu Youdi, who was not aware of the law, was persuaded by her friends and contacted her last family, Chen Mou. She drove to Shanwei the day before the murder, bought methamphetamine from Chen Mou and returned to Guangzhou overnight, and then prepared to help sell it through her friends, but she was not expected to be arrested by the police soon. In court, Liu Youdi insisted on not pleading guilty with luck, but now, facing the prosecutor, she regrets her original choice very much.
Criminal Liu Youdi:I really regret not pleading guilty at that time. At that time, I still stood very hard. I really regret that at that time, including the presiding judge, including giving me this opportunity to speak my mind, just tell me that you can plead guilty and get this lighter punishment.
With Liu Youdi’s own confession of the crime, this drug case, which has gone through nearly four years and seven sessions, has finally come to an end, and the protest of this case is precisely that the procuratorial organ resolutely performs its legal supervision function and strives to make the people feel fair and just in every judicial case.
Shen Bingyou, Director of the Second Procuratorial Department of Guangdong Provincial People’s Procuratorate:If there is a mistake, it must be corrected. This mistake includes not only that those who should not be convicted are convicted, but also that those who should be convicted are not convicted. This mistake must be corrected is two-way, not simply one-sided understanding. Because fighting crime and protecting human rights are the dual responsibilities of procuratorial organs, and both are indispensable.