Chapter 465 No losses

Author: Snow Yinghong Plum

Chapter 465 No losses

In the Eighth Trial Court of the Provincial High Court, there were not many people in the audience, and Zhou Yingqi's father, Mr. Zhou, was among them. He held the quick-acting heart-saving pill in his hand, and his heart was beating constantly. He didn't know whether the next trial would be a blessing or a disaster for his daughter.

There were three judges in the collegial panel sitting above. The presiding judge was the president of the Criminal Court of the Provincial High Court. The inspector of the Provincial Procuratorate sitting opposite Fang Yi and Zhou Ying were two middle-aged male prosecutors. It seemed that both sides had sent a relatively strong lineup.

...

"The prosecutor reads the appeal letter below." said the presiding judge.

"Previous Judge, Judge: This court believes that the appellant Zhou Yingqi is a crime of accepting bribes. The appeal opinion is as follows:

...The first instance court did not determine that all the 8.18 million yuan Zhao Xiaojie received by Zhou Yingqi was bribes, which was considered to be incorrect in the facts; it did not determine that the 300,000 yuan Jiayue Company received by Zhou Yingqi was bribes, which was an error in the application of the law. In addition, the sentencing of the first instance court was obviously light, so the court asked to change the sentence. It was completed." The prosecutor said.

"The appellant Zhou Yingqi will state the reasons for the appeal below." said the presiding judge.

"The first instance determined that I accepted 1.888 million yuan from Zhao Xiaojie as a bribe, and I do not agree. My promotion to Zhao Xiaojie's activity was based on the relationship between us and we traded for power and money." Zhou Yingqi said.

"The appellant's defense lawyer issued the reasons for appeal." said the presiding judge.

"The defense lawyer believes that the first instance court found that the appellant Zhou Yingqi's acceptance of Zhao Xiaojie's 1.88 million yuan was a bribe and was an error in the fact determination.

The appellant Zhou Yingqi and Zhao Xiaojie have a lover relationship and have already planned to get married. It is this special relationship between them that leads to frequent economic exchanges between the two parties and confusion of property.

According to the plan of Zhou Yingqi and Zhao Xiaojie, the two will live together in the near future and become a family. In view of this, Zhou Yingqi conducts activities for Zhao Xiaojie's promotion. Although it is suspected of violating discipline, it is also a common human nature.

Therefore, Zhou Yingqi's acceptance of 1.88 million yuan in Zhao Xiaojie did not constitute bribery. The court asked the court to change the accusation of the appellant in accordance with the law. It was completed." Fang Yi said.

(According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, there are second-instance cases where both the procuratorate appeals and the defendant appeals. The prosecutor who appeals first speaks, then the appellant speaks, and finally the defense lawyer speaks)

The following descriptions of the facts of the case by all parties are consistent with those of the first instance. The parties did not submit new evidence and will not repeat them.

"The court investigation is over and the court debate is now held. Before the debate, the court brings charges and the defense is noted that the debate should mainly focus on the determination of the crime, sentencing and other controversial issues.

The prosecutor will speak first." said the presiding judge.

"Previous Judge, Judge: We believe that Zhou Yingqi received funds from Zhao Xiaojie and Jiayue Company, totaling 8.48 million yuan, and the funds should be bribes. The reasons are as follows:

1. Although the appellant Zhou Yingqi has a lover relationship with Zhao Xiaojie, Zhao Xiaojie has given Zhou Yingqi a large amount of property many times and asked Zhou Yingqi to help him for promotion and reduction of responsibilities. Zhou Yingqi recommended to relevant leaders of the group company based on Zhao Xiaojie's request and pleaded with love. Overall, Zhou Yingqi is seeking improper benefits for Zhao Xiaojie, and his behavior should be classified as bribery.

Second, the first instance court's judgment failed to accurately evaluate the nature of Zhou Yingqi's entire behavior, resulting in the reduction of some criminal facts. At the same time, the appellant Zhou Yingqi used his right to select suppliers to help Zhao Xiaojie's relatives Zou Jia and Zhao Yue's Jiayue Company established by Zhao Xiaojie to obtain business from the technology company and collect 300,000 yuan. His behavior should also be considered as bribery.

Third, the first instance court ruled that the houses purchased by Zhou Yingqi using bribes failed to recover relevant property and income in accordance with Article 18 of the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases of Corruption and Bribery", which is the improper handling of the money and property involved in the case and should be corrected in accordance with the law.

The above is the appeal opinion of our court, and it is completed." The prosecutor said.

"The appellant Zhou Yingqi will defend himself below." said the presiding judge.

"I think the facts determined by the first instance court are wrong. I have a lover relationship with Zhao Xiaojie. During this period, I collected money from Zhao Xiaojie and Jiayue's company entirely based on my special relationship with Zhao Xiaojie. There is no power-for-money transaction. I feel that I should not constitute the crime of accepting bribes.

My legal knowledge is shallow. If the Provincial High Court believes that my behavior constitutes bribery and makes a judgment against me, I will accept the judgment result. However, there is a special relationship between me and Zhao Xiaojie. My family has returned 2.8 million yuan to the procuratorate for me. Please give full consideration to the court during the sentencing." Zhou Yingqi said.

This set of words was carefully considered by her, and her meaning was very clear: First, she expressed her attitude, and she believed that the facts determined by the first instance court were wrong. If the second instance court believed that she was guilty, she accepted it unconditionally (the key is not to accept it); second, she declared again the relationship between her and Zhao Xiaojie, and asked the court to consider the actual situation; finally, she told the second instance court that the family had actively returned the stolen goods, and the second instance court had to consider the situation of actively returning the stolen goods properly, so don't judge it too much!

She felt that she could attack and retreat in this way, and she would not suffer any losses when she was in the left and right, but it sounded a little inconsistent and confused, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

"The defense lawyer of the appellant Zhou Yingqi spoke." said the presiding judge.

Fang Yi picked up the rewritten defense statement and said: "Previous Judge, Judge: The defense lawyer believes that the appellant Zhou Yingqi does not constitute the crime of accepting bribes. The reasons are as follows:

1. Zhou Yingqi's act of accepting money from her lover should not be considered a bribery.

The defense lawyer believes that in a bribery case, no matter how long the timeline between accepting property and seeking benefits is stretched, and even the two parties agree to "do things" when they are in office and collect money after retirement. The correspondence between seeking profit and receiving money is still self-evident, and special proof is generally not required.

However, when there is a special relationship between the party who bribed and the party who accepts the bribe, it is necessary to further prove the purpose of the behavior of both parties, and this is the case.

First, the evidence in the case shows that the appellant Zhou Yingqi and Zhao Xiaojie had a lover relationship. For more than four years, the appellant Zhou Yingqi and Zhao Xiaojie went from determining the relationship between lovers to arranging marriage, preparing to purchase a "marriage house", and then living together, and finally breaking up, maintaining a lover relationship for more than four years. Although there are immoral factors, the two hoped to eventually form a family during the relationship. And after Zhou Yingqi determined the relationship between lovers with Zhao Xiaojie, she quickly completed the divorce procedures. Since then, Zhao Xiaojie has filed a lawsuit against the court many times, but they have all been rejected."

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!