Jinjin pleaded with Lawyer Shen to submit the letter of clemency on her behalf. Chief photojournalist Wu Ning / photographed. Image source: Beijing Morning Post.
A man was sentenced to death for killing his wife, and his ten-year-old daughter repeatedly sent letters of clemency to the Supreme People's Court requesting "spare his life". The daughter's plea resulted in her father's sentence being commuted from death to suspended death.
Report (by reporter Li Kui): Two years ago, rural doctor Wang Junbao was sentenced to death by the Henan Provincial Higher People's Court after being found guilty of killing his wife. His ten-year-old daughter Jinjin repeatedly sent "letters of clemency" to the Supreme People's Court, pleading "spare his life".
Today morning, I learned from Wang Junbao's defense lawyer that after this case was returned step-by-step to the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court of Henan Province for retrial, Wang Junbao's sentence was commuted from death to suspended death for intentional homicide.
● During the retrial, some of the lawyer’s opinions were adopted.
This morning, Shen Teng, Wang Junbao's defense lawyer from Beijing Shuaihe Law Firm, told reporters that during the retrial of this case by the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court in April 2010, two points were raised as the defense.
Firstly, Wang Junbao's actions should be classified as intentional injury rather than intentional homicide; secondly, Wang Junbao killed his wife in a moment of anger, confessed well after being arrested, and compensated partially for the loss to his wife's family, thus he should be given a lighter punishment.
In the judgment made by the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court, it was believed that Wang Junbao knew that hitting someone on the head with a hammer would result in death, but he struck his wife's head several times with the hammer, clearly showing intent to kill.
However, the court adopted the first point of the lawyer’s defense opinion. At the same time, the court believed that this case was triggered by marital and family conflicts, so Wang Junbao could be sentenced to death without immediate execution.
Ultimately, the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wang Junbao to death with a two-year reprieve, with civil compensation amounting to more than 120,000 yuan (40,000 yuan already paid).
Lawyer Shen Teng said that due to an appeal by Jinjin's maternal grandfather's family, the case is currently under second instance review.
● Unfortunate girl has been taken home by her grandmother
After the Wang Junbao murder case, a three-person family that was once envied by outsiders collapsed instantly. The ten-year-old daughter Jinjin was sent to the Xinxiang Children's Village in Henan.
Upon learning that her father was sentenced to death, Jinjin wrote four letters to the Supreme People's Court pleading for her father's life. Jinjin said, "Judge uncles and aunts, I beg you, I have no mother, I don't want to lose my father and become an orphan!"
Last March, when I interviewed Jinjin, she said that pleading for her father was her own idea.
Regarding Jinjin's current situation, Lawyer Shen Teng said that Jinjin was very happy upon learning that her father was sentenced to suspended death. Currently, she has been taken home from the children's village by her grandmother to continue her schooling and is gradually returning to normal childhood life.
Case replay:
On the evening of March 12, 2007, a shocking bloodshed occurred in Shenhou Town, Yuzhou City, Henan Province.
The 36-year-old rural doctor Wang Junbao, while fixing an air conditioner by nailing nails into the wall with a hammer in his own Chinese-Western medicine clinic, had an argument with his wife and then used the hammer to kill her.
After committing the crime, Wang Junbao wrote a will and took a large number of tranquilizers intending to harm himself. The next day, Wang Junbao was discovered by his family and sent to the hospital for rescue.
After the incident, Jinjin's maternal grandfather's family claimed that Wang Junbao lived immorally and exhibited domestic violence, firmly demanding that the court severely punish the murderer.
On December 27, 2007, the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wang Junbao to death for intentional homicide in the first instance.
On January 1, 2009, the Henan Higher People's Court upheld the death sentence.
On January 16, 2009, Jinjin's maternal uncle sent her to the Xinxiang Children's Village in Henan - a charitable organization specifically for raising minor children of prisoners.
In February 2009, after Lawyer Shen Teng, legal advisor of Beijing Children's Village, learned about this matter, he was moved by Jinjin's behavior of saving her father and decided to provide legal assistance, serving as Wang Junbao's defense counsel during the capital punishment review stage.
On December 18, 2009, the Supreme People's Court made a criminal ruling not to approve Wang Junbao's death sentence.
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