Fight over Retry in the Li Changkui Rape-Murder Case

• Author: China Law Digest compiled news from New Express and Baidu

On May 16, 2009, Wang Jiafei, a young woman from Qiaojia County, Yunnan Province, was raped and beaten to death with a hoe by Li Changkui following a neighborhood dispute. Her three-year-older brother, Wang Jiahong, was also killed by Li. Four days later, Li voluntarily turned himself in to the authorities.

On July 15, 2010, the Zhaotong Intermediate Court in Yunnan sentenced Li to execution for rape and intentional homicide. On the second instance, the Yunnan High Court reduced Li’s sentence by imposing a two-year stay of execution. The court of first instance had found that, although Li had voluntarily turned himself in to police, this was a legally insufficient basis for reducing his sentence. The High Court countered, holding that such cooperation with the authorities is sufficient basis for commuting a death sentence.

The Yunan High Court’s resentencing decision ignited a firestorm of public opinion. A poll of Tencent web-users showed that 97.61% of netizens demanded Li’s execution, with only 1.39% supporting the High Court’s ruling. Vice-president of the Yunan High Court, Tian Chengyou, addressed the media, noting that the ruling had been “reached through discussion among twenty-seven members of the High Court’s trial committee.” Although Tian expressed an understanding of the public’s objections to the court’s ruling, he nevertheless defended the decision, saying, “We on the court cannot lightly deprive someone’s life, just because everyone outside the court is calling for his or her death. The public needs to be a bit more rational and realize that to sentence someone...