CCTV News:Disputes over walking dogs have occurred from time to time in recent years, and some even turned into fierce conflicts and criminal cases. The same is true of this case that we should pay attention to today, because once we walked the dog, the parties went from quarreling to fighting, and finally moved a knife.
Yu Zhou, the procurator of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate, felt that this was an avoidable dispute when consulting the case file of a crime of intentional injury.
Yu Zhou, Procurator of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:As a normal person, it is possible that a little dispute that happened before will end when it is dispersed, and the matter of going home will be over. Under normal circumstances, the incident in the second stage should not happen.
As a party involved, Yan Xiaofeng, a security guard of a pharmaceutical company in Daxing District, Beijing, did not expect that he and the other party were strangers, and only because of an accidental small conflict, it actually triggered a strong chain reaction.
Yan Xiaofeng:Unexpectedly, no one expected that there would be follow-up events.
Quarrel with the dog owner because the dog broke into the security guard.
So what caused this conflict, and then what chain reaction? It all started with a dog.
At 7: 17 am on August 6, 2018, the electric door of a pharmaceutical company in Daxing District of Beijing slowly opened to welcome colleagues who came to work. The first thing that greeted them was an "uninvited guest".
At 7: 21, Song Shiquan, who was not tied with a dog leash, swaggered into the company yard and got into the bushes on the left side of the gate to "make it convenient". At this time, two people appeared in the door and outside, including Yan Xiaofeng, the company’s security guard.
Yan Xiaofeng:I’ll kick the dog out first, but it won’t go.
Seeing that the dog didn’t move, Yan Xiaofeng made a gesture of waving and hitting. It was this action that angered Yang, who appeared outside the company. He was the owner of the dog and lived in a residential area across the street from the company. Yan Xiaofeng recalled that Yang was often seen walking his dog nearby, but the two never talked. Ten seconds later, two people who didn’t meet each other spoke for the first time, but they were not friendly.
Speech conflict becomes physical conflict, fighting for two minutes.
According to Yang’s inquiry transcript, at that time, because he saw Yan Xiaofeng picking up a stone and hitting his dog, he scolded, and Yu Shisheng came out in the security room and the three men clashed. At this point, the troublemaker Song Shiquan has run to the door from the bushes, but the conflict between the three people has not stopped, and it has escalated from an argument to pushing each other.
Yan Xiaofeng:After Yu Shisheng came out, there was a conflict when they talked. At this time, they scratched, and this man scratched me. At this time, I grabbed him and kicked him out. He was also very strong. The two of us couldn’t push him, so I hit him.
The monitoring screen shows that Yang hit Yan Xiaofeng with a plastic cone, and he himself was knocked down by Yu Shisheng. The whole fighting process lasted only two minutes. At 7: 23, Yang ran across the road.
Yan Xiaofeng:He went to the opposite side of the road. I think what he meant was that he was looking for something. Later, he led the dog back. We thought it was pulled down, and no one suffered anything, so it was over.
Thought things had subsided, but the second round of conflict escalated
In the view of security guard Yan Xiaofeng, both sides are at fault, and they are all "hanged", which is even. However, Yang didn’t think so. According to the police’s inquiry record afterwards, he felt that he had suffered a loss in one pair, so he decided to send the dog home first and then find a way.
Seeing that Yang had left, two security guards continued to stand at the door to greet the employees who came to work. Since Yu Shisheng also called the police before, at 7: 31, Yu Shisheng received a phone call from the police asking about the previous alarm. At this time, Yan Xiaofeng, who was standing outside the door, suddenly found that Yang was coming towards them in an imposing manner, waving a kitchen knife in his hand.
Yan Xiaofeng:Looking back, I don’t know, he took the knife. I said close the door quickly. When Yu Shisheng and I were about to close the door, he had already reached the door and walked very fast. As soon as I saw him here, I hurried into the house.
Seeing that the other side was going to rush in with a knife, Yan Xiaofeng returned his hand and took the riot steel fork.
The two security guards joined forces to counter each other and brandished swords at each other.
Yan Xiaofeng pushed Yang out of the company with a riot steel fork, and Yu Shisheng also rushed out of the security room with a rubber stick to fight back with Yang. In this process, Yang also tried to cut two security guards with a kitchen knife.
At 7: 33, the arc-shaped head of the explosion-proof steel fork used by Yan Xiaofeng was discounted. He hit Yang’s shoulder and chest with the remaining steel bar, and Yang fought back with a kitchen knife. At this time, several employees have gathered at the door of the company to persuade both parties. According to Yang’s inquiry transcript, he felt that these employees were more polite and had their own steps, so they stopped doing it.
At this time, Yang’s chest and arms have been injured, and Yan Xiaofeng’s arm is also bleeding. The two sides confronted each other inside and outside the door, but did not start work again. Soon, the police rushed to the scene and took the three people to the police station for investigation. During the investigation, Yang complained of arm pain and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Two security guards were detained for causing minor injuries to each other.
After investigation by the police, it was determined that this was a case of mutual assault, and both parties were responsible. The owner of the dog, Yang, was detained for 10 days in administrative detention, while two security guards were criminally detained on suspicion of intentional injury because Yang was slightly injured. A small conflict, and finally both sides paid a painful price. However, the development of this case has not ended here.
During the investigation of the case, Yan Xiaofeng and Yu Shisheng apologized for the damage caused to the victim Yang and expressed their willingness to make compensation within their ability, but the two sides did not reach an agreement on the amount of compensation.
Yan Xiaofeng:He wants 200 thousand, and I want 200 thousand, so I won’t come to Beijing to work, you know? I have a pension of more than 4,000 yuan, but this 4,500 yuan is just enough for my son to take medicine for one month. What do you say?
Although the two sides disputed the amount of compensation, both Yan Xiaofeng and Yu Shisheng admitted that they had committed criminal acts and had no opinion on the crime of intentional injury.
Yan Xiaofeng:Because I thought at that time, after all, the person was beaten, and the disability appraisal came out. No matter what the matter was, you beat the person, which you have to admit, whether you are right or not, this happened.
The prosecutor overturned the guilty conclusion after reviewing the case file.
On October 29, 2018, the case was transferred to the People’s Procuratorate of Daxing District, Beijing for review and prosecution. However, after carefully reviewing the case, the prosecutor Yu Zhou came to a different conclusion from the public security organ.
Yu Zhou, Procurator of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:The public security organ believes that the victim Yang was injured as a result of fighting between the two sides. After review, we believe that this case should be divided into two stages: the first stage is that the two sides fought each other, but there was no consequence of causing minor injuries to the victim. If the circumstances are obvious, slight and harmless, it is not considered a crime. The second stage is the victim Yang, who went home to get a kitchen knife and rushed back to the pharmaceutical company.
After investigation, Yang’s minor injury was caused after he returned to the scene again, and the procuratorate believed that the actions of the two security guards this time were self-defense.
Yu Zhou, Procurator of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:In the second stage, although it caused the consequences of Yang’s minor injury. Yang’s behavior is a kind of illegal infringement, and the behavior of the two suspects belongs to legitimate defense.
Self-defense comes from Article 20 of China’s Criminal Law, the first paragraph of which stipulates that: in order to protect the state, public interests, personal, property and other rights of oneself or others from ongoing illegal infringement, the act of stopping illegal infringement, which causes damage to the illegal infringer, belongs to self-defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.
Zhang Renjie, Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:The criminal suspect in this case actually has the intention of breaking in with a knife. At this time, the suspect can take a protective steel fork, which is not a murder weapon. In this case, in order to stop his injury, he was injured. Therefore, we believe that this case is ultimately a legitimate defense.
Whether it is justifiable defense is controversial and controversial.
If Yan Xiaofeng and Yu Shisheng caused Yang’s minor injuries in self-defense, it means that they do not constitute a crime, will not be prosecuted according to law, and will not be liable for compensation. However, after all, this case was caused by a fight between the two sides. Is this fight in the back considered as self-defense? There are also disputes within the procuratorial organs.
Zhang Renjie, Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:There are great differences and disputes within the procuratorial organs.
Due to disagreement within the procuratorial organs, on December 13, 2018, the People’s Procuratorate of Daxing District of Beijing convened the procuratorial committee for the first time to discuss this case.
Not only this case, but also "self-defense" caused a heated discussion throughout the country at that time. This case in Daxing District of Beijing took place on August 6, 2018. More than half a month later, the "Kunshan Anti-homicide Case" occurred. This case was described by the media as awakening the sleeping self-defense clause, and then the case of Zhao Yu, Fujian Province, and the case of Laiyuan’s home invasion and anti-homicide occurred one after another. People also discussed the standard and scale of self-defense identification and the problems existing in judicial practice for a long time. This case happened in Daxing District, Beijing, although it didn’t attract much attention at that time, all kinds of disputes about the determination of self-defense were fully reflected in this case.
Due to the lack of consensus, the first inspection Committee did not form a final resolution. The inspection commission asked the undertaker to conduct supplementary investigation on this case. During this period, on December 14, 2018, Yu Shisheng and Yan Xiaofeng were released on bail by the People’s Procuratorate of Daxing District, Beijing. Compared with four months ago, Yan Xiaofeng’s understanding of the case has also changed.
Five days after Yan Xiaofeng was released on bail pending trial, on December 19, 2018, he saw a number of guiding cases of self-defense and excessive defense issued by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. These cases specifically explain the boundaries and grasp standards of justifiable defense, further clarify the protection of the right of justifiable defense, actively solve the outstanding problems in the application of justifiable defense, and provide judicial reference for procuratorial organs.
Yan Xiaofeng:The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has published four examples of self-defense, one of which is similar to mine. Because you came in with a knife and you have come to my yard, I will push you out, but I won’t hit you right away. After all, you threatened me with a kitchen knife.
Hold the second inspection Committee to review the video of the crime repeatedly.
Comparing four guiding cases, Yan Xiaofeng thinks that his behavior is defensive, and for the victim Yang, after all, it caused minor injuries in this conflict. How should the behavior of the two suspects be determined? All this requires careful analysis and judgment by prosecutors.
After the case was returned to supplementary investigation twice, the second inspection Committee was held on April 4, 2019.
Zhang Renjie, Director of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:At that time, the undertaker put down the most critical paragraphs at a very slow speed every frame and second of the case, so that every member of the inspection Committee could see the situation very clearly.
After further discussion, the procuratorial Committee reached a consensus that the case was divided into two stages, but the legal evaluation of the second conflict still showed three viewpoints: intentional injury, excessive defense and legitimate defense. Among them, the view that it constitutes the crime of intentional injury is that two parties can hide in the guard room at the time of the crime, that is to say, they can avoid the second conflict by avoiding it.
Yu Zhou, Procurator of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:We believe that self-defense cannot require the defender to passively evade and not allow him to fight back. First of all, in this case, we can see the door of the security room through monitoring, and we also saw it when we went to the scene. Half of the door is glass, and the bottom is aluminum alloy, which is not a solid security door. Once Yang rushed into the guard room with a kitchen knife, in a particularly small space, there was no way for the two suspects to maneuver, which would be even more dangerous.
After the incident, this question has been hovering in Yan Xiaofeng’s mind: What would have happened if he had been hiding in the guard room?
Yan Xiaofeng:I thought about it at that time, too. What would happen if I didn’t go out at that time? But employees are going to work. What should we do at this time? What should I do to cause this impact? Because the purpose of my coming here is to ensure the safety of employees and the safety of the factory, I have to do this.
Prosecutor: The security guard has the right to stop the act of breaking into the company with a knife.
Through monitoring, it can be clearly seen that the two security guards have struck Yang, so can these actions indicate that they have the intention of intentional injury? Regarding this controversial point of view, Yu Zhou believes that the two parties are security guards of pharmaceutical companies, who not only have the right to protect themselves from infringement, but also have the duty to protect the personal safety of other employees. At the time of the crime, it was the time for employees to go to work one after another on Monday morning, and someone broke into the company with a knife. As a security guard, it must be stopped.
In the discussion of the procuratorate, there was another view that Yang was just bluffing and didn’t really hack people, and the two suspects were not actually injured. If they were injured, they could be considered as self-defense.
According to Yang’s inquiry transcript: "After the first fight, I think the other party thinks that they have the upper hand and are very proud, so I want to scare the other party and let the other party not think that I am good at bullying."
The transcript also wrote: if the other party still pretends to be with me, then I may actually cut the other party twice. But when I arrived, the other party took out a steel fork and rubber roller, and I felt that the other party was a little scared, so I waved the knife twice without really cutting them.
Regarding the problem that the victim didn’t really want to chop someone up and the two suspects weren’t injured, prosecutors such as Yu Zhou thought that at the time of the incident, the two suspects were facing realistic and urgent danger, and it was too harsh to ask them to fight back after being injured.
If the actions of the two suspects belong to self-defense, is their actions excessive? According to the second paragraph of Article 20 of the Criminal Law, excessive defense means "justifiable defense obviously exceeds the necessary limit and causes great damage". Prosecutor Yu Zhou believes that this case does not constitute "excessive defense" either from the result of Yang’s minor injury or the means of the two suspects.
Yu Zhou, Procurator of the First Procuratorial Department of Daxing District People’s Procuratorate:The result did not cause significant damage, but the result was not excessive. In this case, we saw the two security guards holding proprietary security tools distributed by the security company. Among them, Yan used a U-shaped explosion-proof steel fork to push Yang’s upper body outside the company. When Yang swung at Yu with a kitchen knife, Yu took a rubber baton and hit Yang’s left hand. We think that in this case, the means of defense of the two suspects are not excessive.
Moreover, the prosecutor in Yu Zhou believes that in judging whether it is justifiable defense or excessive defense, we should not only emphasize the equivalence of actual damage results of both sides, but also compare the interests of both sides. When the personal safety and life safety of defenders are in imminent danger, they should be allowed to defend.
Intentional injury, justifiable defense, and excessive defense are very different from each other in terms of results, but they may only be separated by the same distance as hair, which needs to be judged carefully by law enforcers. Then, after two discussions by the procuratorate, what conclusion did the prosecutors finally reach?
The procuratorial Committee finally decided not to prosecute.
Through the judgment of the case and the detailed analysis of the legal application of self-defense, the procuratorial Committee finally reached an agreement that the actions of the suspects Yu Shisheng and Yan Xiaofeng belonged to self-defense and were not enough to constitute a crime according to law. On April 8, 2019, the People’s Procuratorate of Daxing District of Beijing made a decision not to prosecute Yan Xiaofeng and Yu Shisheng.
On April 10, 2019, Yan Xiaofeng and Yu Shisheng, accompanied by lawyers, came to the Daxing District People’s Procuratorate in Beijing, and a hanging heart finally landed.
Yan Xiaofeng:I just don’t think I’m sure I’ll go back, but when I was struggling, the prosecutor announced that I wouldn’t sue. I was in tears. Really, my mood was different and I was released immediately.
For Yan Xiaofeng and Yu Shisheng, this non-prosecution decision recognized from the legal level that the two men "took actions to stop illegal infringement in order to protect themselves and others’ personal rights from ongoing illegal infringement". In the eyes of their defense lawyers, through this non-indictment, what they see is the rigor and meticulousness of the prosecutors and the time and energy invested. In particular, dividing the case into two stages makes the legal judgment clearer.
After getting the indictment, Yan Xiaofeng still returned to the pharmaceutical company as a security guard. After experiencing this storm, Yan Xiaofeng, who usually likes to watch legal programs, has a more personal experience of the "fairness and justice" that is often said on TV.
Yan Xiaofeng:It’s true to handle cases fairly, and it’s fair in my life, because many things can be felt before this, and judicial justice is reflected in this prosecutor.
At present, the party Yang has filed a criminal private prosecution with the court. In this case, the inspection Committee was held twice, and the views collided fiercely, and the argument was rigorous and meticulous, only to finally draw a conclusion that can stand the test of all parties. Fairness and justice have also emerged in this process.
