Hefei, August 27 (reporter Chaoming Ouyang) - The "Dongzhi Confusing Case" in Anhui Province has recently made new progress. One of the parties involved, Xu Wensheng's brother Xu Manhuang, recently called the reporter to inform that the case had been sent back for retrial last week by the Intermediate People's Court of Chizhou City in Anhui Province due to "unclear facts and insufficient evidence."
Xu Manhuang told the reporter that this case has dragged on until now, already causing unbearable pressure to the family. After waiting for a long time, they finally received the conclusion of "unclear facts and insufficient evidence." As for what kind of verdict his younger brother will receive in the subsequent trial, the whole family is anxiously waiting.
Dean Songlin Xu from the Law School of South China University of Technology informed the reporter that he also learned about the news of the "Dongzhi Confusing Case" being sent back for retrial from the first-instance defense lawyer. Regarding such an outcome, he himself "felt slightly relieved."
Subsequently, Songlin Xu angrily criticized the concept of "guilty presumption" like "grabbing people without evidence and then slowly finding it." He reminded that first, the detention of the defendants in this case is not indefinite. According to the "Application for Approval of Arrest" from Dongzhi County Public Security Bureau, the second defendant Zaijin Xu and the third defendant Wensheng Xu have been detained since June 26, 2008, which is almost one year and three months; the first defendant Daoyou Cha has been detained since August 6, 2008, which is nearly one year and one month. This has constituted excessive detention long ago. Second, according to relevant regulations: criminal cases can be returned for supplementary investigation twice at most due to "unclear facts and insufficient evidence," and can be sent back for retrial once at most. The investigation and trial of the "Dongzhi Confusing Case" have stretched these limits to the extreme. The case has been repeatedly investigated, probed, and reviewed among five agencies: the county public security bureau, the county procuratorate, the county court, the city procuratorate, and the city court, with the defendants being detained until now.
News Review: Since early July, a post titled "The Most Confusing Trial - A Modern Version of Monk Hu芦 Judging Gourd Cases" has been circulating on various forums. The post claims that Dongzhi County People's Court actually ruled that three men, Daoyou Cha, Zaijin Xu, and Wensheng Xu, committed rape on "one afternoon in February or March 2008," even though the specific time of the crime was unclear.