Before the age of 30

Here I am

Struggling in litigation

7  Designate defense for foreigners in the first court appearance

It was another year in the blink of an eye. Because everyone recognized my work achievements, I joined the backbone team of legal aid.

That summer was especially hot. One day, a criminal case came to the Legal Aid Center, and the leader decided to arrange me to handle it. After receiving the materials, I saw that the persons involved were foreign nationals and two Cameroonians had committed fraud in China. At that time, I thought: I have not participated in the criminal proceedings of foreigners. What are the characteristics of such cases in the procedures of public security, procuratorial and judicial stages? I can learn from this new case!

Two days later, other relevant departments also called me and said, “There is no small matter in foreign affairs. You must handle this case solidly, and the Chinese legal environment should be convincing to foreigners!” I immediately made an appointment with the translator of the African Department of the Translation Association, and I went to the Shanghai Detention Center in the early morning.

It is estimated that this case is a foreign suspect, and all departments attach great importance to it. The translation of the Translation Association also arrived at the city detention center early. It is really “Mo Daojun left early, and there are more early comers”!

When meeting the defendant, the translator and I were very involved. The defendant in Cameroon said one sentence, the translator confirmed it again, translated one sentence, and I replied that the whole meeting lasted more than two hours, and the meeting ended at noon. The next day I immediately went to the court to check the papers.

On the way home, my mind was full of defense ideas. It was late at night, and my views were also established: first, the second defendant had a good attitude of pleading guilty; Second, the second defendant is an accessory from the perspective of subjective and objective elements, while preventing the first defendant from biting the second defendant; Third, it is recommended to give him a lighter sentence.

After a period of time, I arrived at the court early in the morning according to the time I received the notice of appearance. During the hearing, I noticed that the members of the Cameroonian Consulate in Shanghai were sitting on the auditorium. At that time, everyone was very serious in the trial of this case, and the whole court trial lasted until about 11:45. After the closing of the court session, I also noticed that the staff of the Cameroonian Consulate recognized and gave a thumbs up to the Chinese judges, prosecutors and defenders!

Later, the judgment came down, and my defense opinions were basically adopted by the court.

This case was more than 20 years ago, but I want to say that for a young lawyer, increasing experience and accumulating experience is the first thing!

8. A gentleman loves money in a proper way

One day, the boss of one of my consulting companies called me on my mobile phone, asking me to go to the company as soon as possible, and said it was inconvenient to talk on my mobile phone.

After I went there, I learned that a friend of the boss of the company had been arrested for bribery and that the first trial had just ended. The purpose of my going was to discuss the issue of appeal together, and I hope I can change my sentence through the second trial.

After carefully reading the verdict of the first instance, I said: “From the verdict of the first instance, there is no problem in the trial procedure of the court, and it is no problem for you to ask me to try the second instance, but I am not sure to make sure that the second instance will be changed.”

After listening to my words, the boss of the consulting unit and some of his friends were very disappointed. After a few words of greeting, everyone broke up. At the time of breaking up, the boss of the consulting unit said he would be the candidate for the second trial!

A few days later, the lawyer entrusted by them to appeal was appointed (peer did not comment). What I still remember is: after leaving that day, they said they thought I had no strength, and the little lawyer was the little lawyer! He also said that he was not prepared to renew the legal consultant contract with me at the end of the year.

After a while, the boss of the consulting unit called me again (he hasn’t contacted me for some time): “Are you free in the evening? How about having dinner together when you have time? By the way, I have some legal questions to ask!”

“Don’t drink the wine, or find a place to have a cup of tea”! I said.

After the meeting, the boss of the consulting company was also cheerful, and he opened the door and said, “Is your legal profession really deep? That case has been upheld! How do you know the result? It seems that I will know you again!”

After listening to this, I took a sip of Tie Guanyin and said, “No problem. Let me explain for you. Believe it or not, there are many lawyers in the society. You can check my opinion! But the first thing I want to say is that it is irrelevant for our lawyers to maintain the original judgment in that case! You know, brother! Generally speaking, 90% of criminal cases in the second instance maintain the original judgment, and 10% of them may be changed or partially sent back for retrial!”.

“In my personal opinion, the first instance is very important! Because the first instance has a complete litigation procedure, which includes investigation, review and prosecution, and trial. Each link has several months, and the whole process may last for a year. This period is enough for criminal lawyers to communicate with the public security, procuratorial, and judicial personnel, and have enough time to prepare for court defense. You said that the second instance should also ensure that the sentence is changed. I can only say that the probability is too small! My principle is that a gentleman loves It’s a good way to get money. I’m not going to pat my chest for tens of thousands of yuan! ”

That night, we talked a lot, and then the consultant contract was renewed year after year