In March 2010, the Intermediate People’s Court of Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, sentenced a cadre surnamed Yang from an organ affiliated with the Central Committee of China Communist Youth League to death with immediate execution and revocation of political rights, on account of a staggering embezzlement of RMB56mln of public funds.
 
As the case entered the second instance in the Higher People’s Court of Hebei, Dacheng senior partners Qian Weiqing and Xu Ping were retained as Yang’s defense attorneys. In their attempt to save Yang, the two devoted much energy to thorough investigations with due respect for the defendant’s life, though under immerse pressure from the higher authority’s order of severely punishing such offenders. They patiently and repeatedly argued against the death sentence ruling from court of first instance in defenses in court and two years’ verbal and written communications with the Higher People’s Court.
 
The two attorneys argued from the perspectives of both theory and the practice of law, relating to the purpose and function of death penalty, application of prosecutorial direction on death penalty, harmful consequences of indiscreet use of death penalty, a gauge of value over money and life, application of the highest standard of proof for death penalty, defect of rights over the involved assets, incomplete control of the defendant over the assets, recovery of the assets, the voluntary surrender of the defendant as well as a comparison with similar cases in China. All their theoretical and empirical studies led to the conclusion that death with immediate execution shall not be applied to the case in question.
 
After turning the case over and again in two years, the undertakers and the judicial committee of Hebei Higher People’s Court were finally persuaded to apply the policy of discretion for death penalty over the case. In mid-February 2012, without revising previous conclusions over the facts and nature of the offense, the Higher People’s Court changed the original death penalty with immediate execution into death with a two-year reprieve.
 
Now the case has been concluded satisfactorily. Thanks to the defense attorneys’ thorough understanding of the law and skilled defense, Yang’s life was saved. Yang and his family expressed heart-felt gratitude to the two attorneys.