Case description:

One day in July 2016,Li Mei and her family wanted to cut down trees and repair branches because wild trees on the roadside blocked the traffic.The neighbors believed that the trees grew on their own plots and could not be cut down and repaired casually.As a result,the quarrel between the two families escalated into a tug of war.During the conflict,Yuan Mou,a 90-year-old neighbor,came to help Li Mei and used a cane to pound her behind her back.After tearing apart from the old man's granddaughter Tian,Li Mei found the old man sitting on the ground.Seeing that he had just hit her in the back,she went forward and grabbed the old man's crutch and threw it aside,telling the old man not to get involved when he was old.After the police arrived and took photos on the scene,they found that the old man had external skin abrasions on his head and elbow,and other people also had injuries.They asked each person to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.The old man returned home to rest after finding no problems during the day's inspection.

The next day,the old man felt chest tightness and other discomfort.Later,his son,Yuan Xiaomou,took him to the hospital for examination in the afternoon.However,during the examination,the old man suddenly vomited white foam at the mouth,and the rescue was ineffective.On the same day,he died.The police subsequently intervened in the investigation.

Accused of intentional injury causing death and facing imprisonment for more than 10 years:

After the death of the elderly,due to an unknown cause of death,the elderly's family members applied for forensic identification.During this process,the elderly's family believed that Li Mei's family was in conflict with the elderly by cutting trees.Li Mei also grabbed the elderly's crutches,causing the elderly to be injured,ultimately leading to the elderly's death.Li Mei's behavior constituted a crime of intentional injury and caused death,and demanded that Li Mei be pursued for criminal responsibility.Nanjing Jiangning District Public Security Bureau conducted an autopsy on the corpse of the elderly,and ultimately determined that the elderly died of sudden coronary heart disease.Emotional stress and pain caused by trauma during the dispute were important factors inducing the death.

Reasonably,the autopsy proves that the old man died unexpectedly,which should have nothing to do with Li Mei.Through investigation,the public security organ also found that there was no objective evidence to prove that Li Mei had assaulted and committed other violations against the elderly.Based on this,the public security organ ultimately believed that Li Mei had not committed any harmful acts or intentional acts,and in March 2017,it officially decided not to file a criminal case.

The family members of the elderly have successively filed criminal private prosecution and civil litigation compensation:

After receiving the notice from the public security department that the case should not be filed,the elderly's family members expressed their objection and then filed a criminal private prosecution with the Jiangning District Court.During the litigation process,the lawsuit was eventually voluntarily withdrawn.After that,he filed multiple civil lawsuits with the Jiangning Court twice,claiming economic compensation.

At the end of September 2018,Li Mei and her family took the initiative to pay the corresponding compensation after receiving the civil judgment issued by the court of first instance that Li Mei should bear 30%of the liability,considering that there was no appeal against the neighborhood relationship.

One wave has not flattened,and another wave has arisen:

Li Mei originally thought that after civil compensation,the case,which spanned more than two years,should be able to end.Unexpectedly,one day in May 2019,Li Mei received a phone notification from the Jiangning District Procuratorate of Nanjing City,informing her that a case involving the crime of causing death due to negligence was transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution,and informing her to come and accept investigation.

At this moment,Li Mei was confused.Isn't this dispute settled after self compensation in 2018?Why did you return to the procuratorate over the past six months?How could Li Mei have been charged with causing death through negligence?

What is the matter with this new accusation?Where will Li Mei go?

Lawyers intervene and discover procedural errors:

After receiving the notification from the procuratorate,Li Mei attached great importance to the case again.After multiple inquiries,she finally found lawyer Xu Yingchao,the deputy director of the criminal business department of Gaopeng(Nanjing)Law Firm.

After listening to his statement on the course of the case,Lawyer Xu found a key issue:Since the procuratorate informed him of the crime of causing death through negligence this time,it indicates that the charge has been changed,and Li Mei should normally have relevant documents from the public security department.Upon this reminder,Li Mei remembered that she indeed had a document in her hand,called the decision to obtain bail pending trial,and immediately found it and took it out.

After obtaining the bail decision,lawyer Xu found that the document was made on August 1,2018,and the civil compensation lawsuit brought by the deceased's family against Li Mei and others was currently under litigation.Accordingly,according to the law,criminal cases should be filed before this point in time.According to the law,the punishment should precede the people,and civil compensation proceedings should be suspended.Why didn't Li Mei explain the facts to the court at that time?

Li Mei said that at the time,the civil lawsuit was entrusted to a lawyer,and she herself showed this document to the lawyer.The lawyer said that since she had obtained insurance,it would be okay to compensate for the civil compensation,so she didn't care about this and didn't tell the judge of the civil case.

After hearing this,lawyer Xu was very helpless.The reason for the follow-up of this case was that there were significant procedural issues in the civil litigation at that time.If the lawyers at that time had paid attention,raised issues,and actively addressed them,perhaps there would have been no further litigation today.

After some detailed discussions,Li Mei finally decided to entrust lawyer Xu to handle the case,helping her restore the facts of the case through professional skills,and returning her innocence.

Returning to the scene of the crime:

After lawyer Xu intervened,he said he wanted to visit the scene of the incident at that time.Li Mei said that he had never heard of a lawyer going to the scene before,and only the police would go.Lawyer Xu said that Gao Peng's criminal defense team is not limited to criminal cases,but many cases need to go to the scene to have a visual impression so that lawyers can find overlooked issues.

On the same day,lawyer Xu led the criminal defense team to follow Li Mei to the scene of the crime.

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Disclaimer:

The content of this article is for the sole purpose of providing information to the author of the article.Readers should not rely on this information for any purpose before obtaining legal opinions from practicing lawyers in relevant jurisdictions regarding their own cases.Beijing Gaopeng(Nanjing)Law Firm expressly disclaims all liability,loss,or damage arising from any form of use(including acts or omissions)of this document.

(This article is translated by software translator for reference only.)