Judge adjourns ex-lawyer's trial
By Li Xinran |
April 21, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A TRIAL in which an imprisoned ex-lawyer is facing new charges was adjourned in Chongqing yesterday.
The chief judge at Jiangbei District People's Court announced the adjournment on the second day of evidence about alleged crimes uncovered since Li Zhuang's conviction last February for falsifying evidence when he was defending a mob boss in Chongqing in 2009.
The adjournment, until tomorrow, came after hours of debate between prosecutors, Li, and his defense team.
In 2009, the court found Li guilty of falsifying evidence for gang leader Gong Gangmo and sentenced him to two and a half years in jail. The sentence was later reduced to 18 months.
Li, a former partner with the Beijing-based firm Kangda, now faces fresh charges over his defense of several clients, Chongqing prosecutors said.
Li spent half an hour yesterday questioning the evidence of Xu Lijun, a businesswoman who had claimed in written testimony that Li persuaded her to tell lies to help acquit a client in July 2008 in Shanghai.
Li denied the charge, and most of the evidence, on Tuesday by shouting "Nonsense!"
Yesterday he repeated a request that a court in Shanghai hear the case to guarantee impartiality and a call for an evaluation of Xu's mental status, but both petitions were dismissed by the court.
At Li's previous trial, Gong said Li persuaded him, in a bid for a more lenient sentence, to retract his testimony and claim investigators had tortured him.
This sparked nationwide controversy and concern over Gong's motives. It was suspected the gang leader had been forced by investigators to blow the whistle on his lawyer.
Li himself yelled out at his appeal on February 9 last year that he had been lured into pleading guilty because court officials had promised him no jail time.
Li pleaded guilty to falsifying evidence and obstructing testimony shortly after his second trial began.
Gong was given life imprisonment the next day after being convicted on nine counts, including running a gang, murder and drug trafficking. He was given no leniency for his tip-off regarding Li's crimes.
The chief judge at Jiangbei District People's Court announced the adjournment on the second day of evidence about alleged crimes uncovered since Li Zhuang's conviction last February for falsifying evidence when he was defending a mob boss in Chongqing in 2009.
The adjournment, until tomorrow, came after hours of debate between prosecutors, Li, and his defense team.
In 2009, the court found Li guilty of falsifying evidence for gang leader Gong Gangmo and sentenced him to two and a half years in jail. The sentence was later reduced to 18 months.
Li, a former partner with the Beijing-based firm Kangda, now faces fresh charges over his defense of several clients, Chongqing prosecutors said.
Li spent half an hour yesterday questioning the evidence of Xu Lijun, a businesswoman who had claimed in written testimony that Li persuaded her to tell lies to help acquit a client in July 2008 in Shanghai.
Li denied the charge, and most of the evidence, on Tuesday by shouting "Nonsense!"
Yesterday he repeated a request that a court in Shanghai hear the case to guarantee impartiality and a call for an evaluation of Xu's mental status, but both petitions were dismissed by the court.
At Li's previous trial, Gong said Li persuaded him, in a bid for a more lenient sentence, to retract his testimony and claim investigators had tortured him.
This sparked nationwide controversy and concern over Gong's motives. It was suspected the gang leader had been forced by investigators to blow the whistle on his lawyer.
Li himself yelled out at his appeal on February 9 last year that he had been lured into pleading guilty because court officials had promised him no jail time.
Li pleaded guilty to falsifying evidence and obstructing testimony shortly after his second trial began.
Gong was given life imprisonment the next day after being convicted on nine counts, including running a gang, murder and drug trafficking. He was given no leniency for his tip-off regarding Li's crimes.
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