On May 3, 2011, prosecutors instituted a public prosecution against a man surnamed Wang, by then president of an Intermediate People’s Court of Shandong, for bribe-taking, corruption and abuse of power, in Qingdao Intermediate People’s Court. Dacheng senior partner Xu Xilong from the criminal defense practice was retained to act as defense lawyer in the trial of first instance. Based on his analysis of the case, Xu insisted that Wang’s behavior did not constitute corruption or abuse of power, nor accusations of taking substantial bribes should be counted as crime.
The case was publicly tried twice at Qingdao Intermediate People’s Court, on June 30 and September 20, 2011, respectively. Attorney Xu’s defense focused on two points: the money Wang had used was from an off-the-book account set for hospitality spending; no evidence pointed to his embezzlement of public fund or corruption, nor was it a consequence of abuse of power. Moreover, the substantial sums of money, accused as bribe, were given by his sister-in-law, but the two families had always been helping each other financially. Though he accepted the money, Wang did not seek illegal profits proportionate to the sums he received for his sister-in-law. Their behavior could not be interpreted as trading money for power, or bribing and bribe-taking.
On February 13 2012, the court of first instance, adopting attorney Xu’s argument against charges of corruption and abuse of power, ruled publicly that Wang’s setting a separate account was only an act of financial impropriety. As regards the largest sum of accused bribe, the court also found him not guilty. What’s more, the court recognized the defense attorney’s view that under special circumstances, when cost and benefit involved in an accused bribery were disproportionate, it shall not be regarded as an offense of bribery, and this view was included into the court’s judiciary records.
In white-collar crime-related judiciary practice, it is rare for a court to systematically adopt a defense lawyer’s argument. The outcome of the case in question fully manifests Dacheng defense lawyer’s expertise.
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