Voluntary surrender is stipulated in China's Criminal Law, and when the people's court convicts and sentencs the defendant, it is to give a lighter or commuted punishment or to exempt the punishment from punishment on the basis of the circumstances of the defendant's crime. However, in some criminal cases, whether a party has voluntarily surrendered has become the focus of controversy between the prosecution and the defence. This is where the professional competence of the defence lawyer comes into play.
Wu Xinyuan, from a place in Hebei, made a profit of 550,000 yuan through informal channels a few years ago. In November 2021, Wu Xinyuan and a few friends met for a small gathering in the teahouse. After arriving at the teahouse, Wu Xinyuan met his acquaintance Zhao Qiang. When Zhao Qiang saw Wu Xinyuan appear, he immediately went to the second floor of the teahouse to report Wu Xinyuan's specific location to the public security organs.
When Zhao Qiang made a report, Wu Xinyuan happened to pass by the second floor and heard the content of his report with the public security organ. Soon after, the police rushed to the teahouse, and Wu Xinyuan was criminally detained by the public security organs on suspicion of fraud and arrested in December of the same year.
In April 2022, the public prosecution charged Wu Xinyuan with fraud and filed a public prosecution with the people's court. The public prosecutor believes that Wu Xinyuan used the method of fabricating facts for the purpose of illegal possession to defraud others of 550,000 yuan of property, the amount of which is particularly huge, and he should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of fraud, and recommended that the court sentence Zhang to 11 years in prison.
After accepting the entrustment at the first-instance trial stage, the defense lawyer in this case held that, based on Wu Xinyuan's statement and the evidence in the file, Wu Xinyuan had voluntarily surrendered, and his punishment could be commuted in accordance with law, that is, he was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years.
Article 1 of the Supreme People's Court's "Opinions on Several Specific Issues Concerning Voluntary Surrender and Meritorious Service" stipulates that where a criminal suspect waits at the scene while knowing that others have reported the case, and does not resist arrest at the time of arrest, and confesses the facts of the crime, he shall also be deemed to have voluntarily surrendered.
Based on this, the defense lawyer pointed out that in this case, when Wu Xinyuan heard the content of Zhao Qiang and the public security organs, his actions were still free, and he could completely leave the teahouse and avoid the arrest of the public security organs. However, Wu Xinyuan remained at the scene and waited even though he knew that others had called the police, and did not resist arrest when the public security organs arrested him, and his conduct constituted voluntary surrender, and his punishment could be mitigated or commuted.
In the end, the court adopted the lawyer's defense opinion, holding that Wu Xinyuan had voluntarily surrendered, and that the punishment could be reduced in accordance with the law, and he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Guanling Law Firm also recently ** a similar criminal case, the party Wei Bin, as a hotel front desk attendant, privately raised the room price, asked the guest to transfer the money to his private account, and then through the way of online booking, helped the guest book a room at a low price to check in, so as to earn the corresponding price difference, and was accused of embezzlement.
After receiving the case, Guanling Law Firm learned that the police handling the case first came to Wei Bin's parents' home to understand the situation, and Wei Bin's parents saw this and dialed their son Wei Bin's **, hoping that he could cooperate with the investigation of the public security organs. After Wei Bin received his parents, he immediately set off to his parents' home, and then went to the police station with the police handling the case to be investigated.
The lawyer believes that Wei Bin did not live with his parents, and when the police handling the case came to Wei Bin's parents' house, Wei Bin was not present and was not within the control of **. When Wei Bin's parents informed Wei Bin, Wei Bin took the initiative to rush to his parents' house, put himself under the control of **, and then went to the police station with the police handling the case, during which there was no resistance. Wei Bin's conduct should be regarded as a voluntary surrender, constituting voluntary surrender, and punishment may be commuted or waived in accordance with law.
After review, the public prosecution adopted the defense opinion of lawyer Guanling, held that Wei Bin had voluntarily surrendered, and decided not to prosecute Wei Bin.
The circumstances of voluntary surrender in the above two cases are different from the "voluntary surrender" in our impression, but the defense lawyer, in accordance with the relevant provisions and in light of the specific circumstances of the case, gave the client's defense opinion that the client had voluntarily surrendered from a professional perspective, and successfully helped the client reduce or even exempt the punishment. Criminal cases are complex and diverse, and if someone encounters similar problems, they can consult a professional lawyer in a timely manner.