In the early morning of June 10, 2022, a vicious case of multiple people violently assaulting women occurred in a barbecue shop in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. After the surveillance video of the case was exposed, it quickly aroused strong social concern. 36 hours after the incident, the Hebei police arrested all 9 suspects and designated the Langfang police to be under the jurisdiction of different places. In view of the legal problems existing in this case, the author makes a concrete analysis of the case in combination with the existing public information.

Author/Lawyer Wang Zihan

Case Time Point Review

About 2: 40 a.m. on June 10
A case of provoking quarrels and violently beating others occurred in a barbecue shop under the jurisdiction of the Airport Road Police Station of the Lubei Branch of the Tangshan Public Security Bureau, which caused widespread concern.

June 10 afternoon
The Lubei Branch of the Tangshan Public Security Bureau reported the case, reporting that the police had locked the suspect and were making every effort to arrest him.

June 11 afternoon
The Lubei Branch of the Tangshan Public Security Bureau reported that all nine persons involved in the case have been brought to justice and the case is under further investigation.

June 11 night
According to the official Weibo report of the Guangyang Branch of the Public Security Bureau of Langfang City, Hebei Province, according to the designated jurisdiction of the Provincial Public Security Department, the case of provoking trouble and violently assaulting others in a barbecue shop in Lubei District, Tangshan City was investigated and handled by the Guangyang Branch of the Langfang City Public Security Bureau.

Morning of June 12
Hebei "Langfang Public Security" Public Number issued a police report: With the approval of the People's Procuratorate of Guangyang District, Langfang City, Chen Jizhi and other 9 suspects have been arrested by the Guangyang Branch of the Langfang Public Security Bureau.

June 12 afternoon
Tangshan City held a mobilization and deployment meeting for the summer social security rectification "Thunder Storm" special action. The Tangshan Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government decided to launch a half-month summer social security rectification "Thunder Storm" special action from now on.

21 June
The Public Security Bureau of Hebei Province issued a circular on the progress of the investigation and handling of cases suspected of provoking trouble and violently beating others by Chen Mouzhi (hereinafter referred to as the "circular")

Whether the designation of jurisdiction is reasonable

According to the official Weibo report of the Guangyang Branch of the Langfang Public Security Bureau on June 11, 2022, the case was investigated and handled by the Guangyang Branch of the Langfang Public Security Bureau designated by the Provincial Public Security Department.

It is not uncommon for criminal cases to be investigated by public security organs in different places at the stage of investigation. AccordingArticle 22 of the the People's Republic of China Ministry of Public Security Decree No. 159 "Provisions on Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs""For criminal cases with special circumstances, the common higher-level public security organ can designate jurisdiction." Therefore, this case has procedural evidence and does not violate the law.

Due to the fact that the surveillance video of the case has received great attention on the Internet, and the nature of the case is extremely bad, a lot of antagonism has arisen. Based on the characteristics of the above cases, the higher authorities usually designate remote jurisdiction based on the influence of the case, the nature of the case and other factors. On the other hand, it can avoid "human cases", "protective umbrella" and other factors, thus reflecting the attitude of handling cases openly and fairly.

The alleged crime of the suspect

From the surveillance video circulated on the Internet, the criminal suspect harassed the victim through speech after drinking, and after being rejected by the victim, he cooperated with other criminal suspects to commit violence to the victim. On the one hand, the criminal suspect has the plot of bravado, making trouble for nothing, and beating others for no reason.Article 293 (1) of the Criminal CodeThe determination of "suspected of the crime of provoking trouble"; on the other hand, the criminal suspect commits violent beatings to the victim, and subjectively there is an intention to harm the victim's physical health, which objectively also causes the victim's personal injury. The behavior is in lineArticle 234 of the Criminal CodeThe provisions of the alleged crime of intentional injury. The same behavior of the criminal suspect violates two crimes. The crime of provoking trouble and the crime of intentional injury are competing. According to relevant laws and regulations, a felony will be selected based on the victim's injury identification.

AccordingArticle 234 of the Criminal CodeWhoever intentionally injures another person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance. Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph and causes serious injury to a person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than 10 years; whoever causes death or serious injury to a person by particularly cruel means and causes serious disability shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death.

Article 293 of the Criminal CodeWhoever commits one of the following acts of picking quarrels and causing trouble and disrupting social order shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance: (1) beating others at will, the circumstances are bad; (II) chasing, intercepting, abusing or intimidating others, the circumstances are bad; (III) forcibly demanding or arbitrarily damaging or occupying public or private property, the circumstances are serious; (IV) making trouble in public places, causing serious disorder in public places. Whoever assembles others to commit the acts mentioned in the preceding paragraph many times and thus seriously disrupts public order shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than 10 years, and may also be fined.

According to the content of the ''Notice'' issued by the Hebei Provincial Public Security Department on June 21, 2022, 2 of the 4 victims were slightly injured at the second level, and the remaining 2 constituted minor injuries. Judging from the results of the injury identification, it is possible for the suspect to be identified as the crime of provoking trouble in the case of violent beating of others.

Whether the suspect is suspected of "black and evil" organized crime

According to the notice issued by the Hebei Provincial Public Security Department on June 21, 2022, the suspect in this case still has many criminal facts, which is a typical "case in the case". Although most of the ringleaders identified as underworld organized crimes are charged with more crimes, it is not that multiple crimes will be identified as underworld organized crimes.

AccordingLaw [2009] No. 382 on the Minutes of the Symposium on Handling Cases of Organized Crimes of a Triad NatureandSummary of the Symposium on the Trial of Organized Crime Cases by Some National Courts (Law [2015] No. 291)It is stipulated that whether or not a criminal organization is suspected of a crime of an underworld organization depends first on whether there is an underworld organization. A criminal organization that has the following four characteristics can be recognized as an underworld organization:

1. About organizational characteristics.The underworld organization not only has clear organizers and leaders, and the backbone members are basically fixed, but also has a relatively stable organizational structure and a relatively clear division of levels and responsibilities.

2. On economic characteristics.A certain amount of economic strength is the basis for triad organizations to become powerful and dominate one side. Whether their property is collected by illegal means or obtained by legal means, as long as part or all of it is used for illegal and criminal activities or to maintain the survival and development of criminal organizations.

3. About behavioral characteristics.Violence, coercion and organization are the main characteristics of the behavior of triad organizations, but sometimes some "other means" are adopted ".

4. On hazardous characteristics.Dominating one side, forming illegal control or significant influence in a certain area or industry, thereby seriously disrupting the order of economic and social life, is the essential feature of underworld organizations, and it is also the key to the difference between underworld organizations and general criminal groups.

AccordingOpinions on Several Issues Concerning the Handling of Criminal Cases of Evil Forces (issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice on April 9, 2019)According to the regulations, evil forces refer to those who often gather together and use violence, threats or other means to carry out illegal and criminal activities in a certain area or industry for many times, so as to do evil, oppress the people, disrupt the order of economic and social life, and cause relatively bad social influence, but have not yet formed an illegal and criminal organization with the nature of underworld.

It can be seen from this that evil gangs are the rudiments of triad organizations, and some eventually developed into triad organizations, but did not develop into triad organizations. If they constitute a joint crime, they will be convicted and punished for the joint crime of the evil forces.

To sum up, whether the suspect in the Tangshan barbecue shop beating case is suspected of organized crime of the underworld nature and whether it constitutes a crime of evil forces, it is necessary to comprehensively determine the criminal nature of the suspect according to the in-depth investigation of the case and the disclosure of case information.

Possible sentence of the suspect

Judging from the fact of the crime of beating a person in a barbecue shop under surveillance, at present, the injury identification of two people with minor injuries has been made, so according to the relevant laws and regulations, the crime of intentional injury is facing fixed-term imprisonment of less than three years, criminal detention or surveillance, and the crime of provoking trouble is facing fixed-term imprisonment of less than five years, criminal detention or surveillance. According to the principle of choosing a heavy one, the suspect will be convicted and punished for the crime of provoking trouble and face a fixed-term imprisonment of less than five years.

According to the statement in the "Bulletin", "The public security organs also found Chen Mouzhi, Chen Mouliang and other illegal and criminal clues such as provoking troubles, gathering people to fight, and opening casinos." If it is verified that the criminal suspect has repeatedly gathered others to carry out provoking troubles and has not been dealt with, accordingArticle 6 of the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Provocation and ProvocationandArticle 293, paragraph 2, of the Criminal CodeThe criminal suspect may face more than five years and less than ten years in prison.

In addition, if the criminal suspect constitutes an organized crime of a triad nature and has other criminal acts, accordingArticle 294, paragraph 3, of the Criminal CodeThe regulations shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the combined punishment of several crimes; for the organizers and leaders of the underworld organization, they shall be punished in accordance with all the crimes committed by the underworld organization they organize and lead; for the participants of the underworld organization, they shall be punished in accordance with the crime they participated in.

AccordingArticle 69 of the Criminal CodeIf the judgment declares that a person has committed several crimes before, in addition to the death penalty and life imprisonment, the sentence shall be executed at the discretion of the total sentence of less than the total sentence and more than the maximum sentence of several sentences, but the maximum control shall not exceed three years, the maximum criminal detention shall not exceed one year, and if the total sentence of fixed-term imprisonment is less than 35 years, the maximum shall not exceed 20 years, and the maximum shall not exceed 25 years.

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Author Introduction

Wang Zihan

Lawyer Wang Zihan, a member of the Communist Party of China, a member of the All China Lawyers Association, graduated from Liaoning Police Academy with a bachelor's degree, and is currently practicing in Beijing Huixiang Law Firm. Have a profound theoretical basis of criminal defense and a large number of practical experience. Since entering the lawyer industry, lawyer Wang Zihan has always adhered to the practice concept of "arguing in accordance with the law and arguing right and wrong in accordance with the law", and has continuously cultivated his profession. He has accumulated rich experience in criminal defense, corporate compliance, corporate legal counsel, labor disputes and other fields, and can quickly grasp the key to the case and provide the best solution for the parties. Due to lawyer Wang Zihan's professional legal services, solid legal skills and serious and responsible work attitude, he has received unanimous praise from the parties.

Areas of Expertise:
Criminal Defense, Corporate Compliance, Legal Counsel

Main performance:
1. Liaoning Provincial Public Security Bureau and Su Moumou Administrative Litigation (Rejection of Prosecution);
2. Yang is suspected of obstructing credit card management (bail pending trial);
3. Zhang's case of theft and extortion-the court adopted the defense opinion and changed the sentencing.