Recently, Lawyer Fang Zhaohong of Ronly & Tenwen Partners represented a multi-million-yuan marriage fraud case. Lawyer Fang gave full play to the professionalism of a criminal defense lawyer and insisted on make a defense of innocence, and finally the Procuratorate did not arrest the criminal suspect, which protected the legitimate interests of the parties and upholds the fairness and justice of the law.

Case Background

   Yu Mou, the actual controller of a company in Fengxian District, met a number of people of the opposite sex through marriage and dating websites during the existence of the marriage relationship. After gaining the trust of the other party by making friends, he borrowed money and did not repay it. After the victim reported the crime, the police filed a case on suspicion of marriage fraud and took criminal detention measures against Yu. After investigation, the amount involved in Yu’s case was as high as millions of yuan. As the amount was particularly huge, the statutory penalty was fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years or life imprisonment. After the incident, Yu’s family tried their best to consult a number of lawyers. The suggestions given by the lawyers were that they could only defend the lesser crime, that is, the lawyer believed that Yu was guilty! Yu’s family members entrusted two lawyers to serve as Yu’s defense lawyers in the two law firms, but they were never able to gain Yu’s trust.
  On the 25th day of Yu’s criminal detention, under the urgency of time, the family contacted Lawyer Fang Zhaohong and listened carefully to Lawyer Fang’s legal analysis of the whole case. When they heard the conclusion that a defense of innocence is possible in the case, they had their anxiety relieved.  At the moment, they decided to cancel all the previous commissions and entrusted lawyer Fang Zhaohong as Yu’s defender.

The Process

     After formally acceptance of the commission, most of the “golden 37 days” of criminal defense have passed, and it was urgent to protect Yu’s legitimate rights and interests. Lawyer Fang resolutely devoted himself to the defense work, immediately learned about the case from the public security and went to the detention center to meet with Yu, provide Yu with legal knowledge and self-defense counseling in this case, demonstrate defense strategies and specific plans, and gain Yu’s high trust.

     During the communication with Yu, lawyer Fang accurately grasped some key information that was very conducive to the crime: 1. When Yu borrowed money from the victims, he had written an IOU, and he had also made several small repayments; 2. Yu was in charge of the business of the two companies, and his personal monthly income was as high as more than 100,000; 3. The police’s determination of the amount involved in the case was still based on the victims’ statement, and the chain of evidence of the exact amount has not been obtained. As time is running out, lawyer Fang moved in time and adjusted his defense strategy: the in-court defense was combined with the out-of-court defense under the premise of innocence defense. On the one hand, Yu’s family members were instructed to make an out-of-court defense. The company controlled by Yu drafted a “distress letter” in the name of a legal person to detail to the prosecution the negative impact on the company after the suspect was taken compulsory measures: the company will face the risk of bankruptcy as a result. On the other hand, based on the facts of the case stated by Yu, the crime was analyzed at the legal level. On the basis of aforementioned “distress letter”, a legal opinion was written for in-court defense.

  On the first day of the public security’s request for arrest, lawyer Fang contacted the undertaking prosecutor and asked the prosecutor for a face-to-face legal opinion in accordance with Article 88 of the Criminal Procedure Law and Article 261 of the Criminal Procedure Rules of the People’s Procuratorate. In the communication with the prosecutor, in addition to arguing from the perspective of the criminal composition elements of the crime of fraud, Lawyer Fang Zhaohong demonstrated that the suspect did not have the subjective elements of “illegal possession for the purpose” and should not be convicted of a crime. He also emphasized that only by restoring Yu to his freedom could he repay the victim’s money with income, and finally fully demonstrate that non-arrest was more conducive to the victim and the socio-economic order based on the criminal policy of “less arrest and careful prosecution” and the State Council’s support policy for the small and medium-sized private economy and other dimensions. At the same time, Mr. Fang instructed Yu’s family members to organize the business materials of Yu’s actual control company and the proof of Yu’s income before he was taken into criminal detention, and submit the same to the prosecutor to prove that Yu had the ability to make repayment.

   After fully listening to Lawyer Fang’s legal opinions, the prosecutor conducted an arraignment of the suspect. After sufficient argument and analysis by the Procuratorate, Lawyer Fang’s legal opinions were finally adopted, and on the 37th day of Yu’s criminal detention, he received the decision of “no arrest”.
 

Perception  

    A criminal lawyer handles not only a criminal case, but also the life of the client! Criminal lawyers must develop “innocence thinking”. Criminal lawyers must have this kind of thinking in face of any criminal cases: there must be problems in this case, and it must be analyzed according to innocence thinking, and innocence defense is entirely possible.

    Criminal defense has no boundaries, and is not confined to the court. The criminal lawyers must try hard, as long as the measures are not illegal and do not violate ethics. In criminal defense, we must be good at discovering problems, analyzing problems, and solving problems. We must develop the ability of quick learning, strict logical thinking, and a unique defense perspective to maximize the protection of the legitimate interests of the parties.