Jinjin asked Attorney Shen to submit the letter of mercy on her behalf. Chief photographer Wu Ning took the photo. Image source: Beijing Morning Post.
A man was sentenced to death for killing his wife, and his ten-year-old daughter Jinjin repeatedly sent letters of mercy to the Supreme People's Court, pleading for "staying the execution." The daughter's plea resulted in her father's death sentence being commuted to suspended death sentence.
Report (by reporter Li Kui): Two years ago, after rural doctor Wang Junbao was finally sentenced to death by the Higher People's Court of Henan Province for killing his wife, his ten-year-old daughter Jinjin repeatedly sent "letters of mercy" to the Supreme People's Court, pleading for "staying the execution."
This morning, I learned from Wang Junbao's defense attorney that after this case was retried by the Intermediate People's Court of Xuchang City, Henan Province, Wang Junbao's death sentence was commuted to a suspended death sentence.
● Part of the lawyer's opinion was adopted during the retrial
This morning, Shen Teng, Wang Junbao's defense attorney from Beijing Shuaihe Law Firm, told me that when the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court retried this case in April 2010, as the defense side, they made two points.
Firstly, Wang Junbao's actions should be classified as intentional injury rather than intentional homicide; secondly, Wang Junbao killed his wife impulsively, showed good attitude towards confession after being arrested, and also compensated part of the loss to his wife's family, so he should be punished lightly.
In the judgment made by the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court, it was believed that Wang Junbao clearly knew that hitting someone's head with an iron hammer would cause death, but he still hit his wife's head several times with the iron hammer, showing obvious intention to commit murder.
However, the court accepted 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, and Wang Junbao could be sentenced to death, but not executed immediately.
In the end, the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wang Junbao to death with a two-year reprieve, along with civil compensation of more than 120,000 yuan (already paid 40,000 yuan).
Attorney Shen Teng said that because Jinjin's maternal grandfather's family appealed, this case is currently under second trial.
● The unfortunate girl has been taken home by her grandmother
After the incident of Wang Junbao killing his wife, a three-person family that was once envied by outsiders instantly collapsed, leaving behind a ten-year-old daughter Jinjin who was sent to the Children's Village in Xinxiang, Henan.
After learning that her father was sentenced to death, Jinjin wrote four letters to the Supreme People's Court pleading for her father. Jinjin said, "Uncle and aunt judges, I beg you, I have already lost my mother, and I don't want to lose my father and become an orphan!"
In March last year, when I interviewed Jinjin, she said that pleading for her father was her own idea.
As for Jinjin's recent situation, Attorney Shen Teng said that after Jinjin learned that her father was sentenced to a suspended death sentence, she was very happy. Currently, she has been taken home from the children's village by her grandmother to continue schooling, gradually restoring normal life as a child.
Case Replay
On the evening of March 12, 2007, a shocking bloodshed occurred in Shenhou Town, Yuzhou City, Henan Province.
36-year-old rural doctor Wang Junbao, while nailing nails on the wall to fix the air conditioner in his own Chinese-Western medicine clinic, had a quarrel with his wife, then used the iron hammer to kill his wife.
After committing the crime, Wang Junbao wrote a will and swallowed a large amount of tranquilizer pills attempting suicide. The next day, Wang Junbao was found by his family and rushed to the hospital for rescue.
After the incident, Jinjin's maternal grandfather's family claimed that Wang Junbao lived immorally and had domestic violence behavior, and insisted that the court severely punish the murderer.
On December 27, 2007, the Intermediate People's Court of Xuchang City sentenced Wang Junbao to death for intentional homicide in the first instance.
On January 1, 2009, the Higher People's Court of Henan Province upheld the death sentence.
On January 16, 2009, Jinjin's uncle on her mother's side sent her to the Children's Village in Xinxiang, Henan - a charity organization specifically for raising minor children of prisoners.
In February 2009, after Attorney Shen Teng, legal advisor of the Beijing Children's Village, learned about this matter, he was moved by Jinjin's act of saving her father, decided to provide legal assistance, and became Wang Junbao's defense attorney during the death penalty review stage.
On December 18, 2009, the Supreme People's Court made a criminal ruling, refusing to approve Wang Junbao's death sentence.
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