Justifiable Defence Episode 1 Recap
> Justifiable Defence Recap
A man named Duan Hongshan, covered in blood, arrived at the Duanke Town Police Station on the morning of April 28, 2023, and announced he was turning himself in for murder. He identified himself as a prosecutor. Days before this, Prosecutor Duan Hongshan was leading the investigation into the death of Zhang Yuan, a 32-year-old man. The suspect was Zhang Yuan's 31-year-old estranged wife, Jiang Ting, who had sought a divorce citing domestic violence.
Zhang Yuan, armed with a boning knife, had come to Jiang Ting's residence on April 17th after dinner. The forensic report placed his time of death around 10:40 PM, consistent with the time Jiang Ting spent doing laundry afterward. Both Zhang Yuan and Jiang Ting were alumni of Wuyan Third High School. Duan and his colleagues, including Ding Yi, worked on the case. Duan even took possession of Jiang Ting's fish tank, as it was her only concern.
Duan visited Jiang Ting in the detention center. She was questioned about the multiple stab wounds. Jiang Ting couldn't fully explain why she stabbed Zhang Yuan seven times, particularly the six subsequent stabs after the first, stating she wished she had only stabbed him once for it to be justifiable defense, but feared he would have killed her if he survived.
She described her life as having "derailed" during the 28 minutes she spent hanging laundry after the incident, longing for her life to return to normal. She recounted Zhang Yuan's extreme paranoia and how he used trivial matters, such as her not peeling asparagus when cooking, as pretexts for abuse and violence.
During a flashback, she described how Zhang Yuan, wielding a knife, attacked her, cornered her on the balcony, and threatened to kill her, forcing her to instinctively defend herself. Jiang Ting expressed confusion about the legal definitions of her actions, feeling lost about her future, but her primary concern was the welfare of her fish, pleading with Duan to care for them.
Recognizing the case's complexity, Chief Prosecutor Gong proposed a joint meeting to gather perspectives and balance legal principles with public sentiment to reach the best judgment. During the meeting, opinions varied. Some argued for excessive defense, seeing the initial stab as potentially defensive but subsequent ones as exceeding necessary force due to the timing, means, intensity, and resulting harm. Others leaned towards intentional homicide, focusing on the motive and the severity of the injuries.
Duan argued that under stress, actions within seconds are instinctive, not deliberate, supporting excessive defense, or even justifiable defense. He emphasized that the danger Jiang Ting faced was not isolated to that night but was a persistent threat throughout their three-year marriage, escalating after their separation. He presented a hypothetical to his male colleagues, asking what choice they would make if cornered with a knife, reaffirming his inclination towards classifying the case as justifiable defense based on the current information.
While discussing the case, new information arrived about a potential eyewitness, Mei Zheng, who worked at an aquarium. Mei Zheng claimed she saw the incident from her apartment across the street. She stated she saw Zhang Yuan with a knife, about to stab Jiang Ting, and instinctively shone a flashlight beam into his eyes, causing him to momentarily stop. In that moment, Jiang Ting stabbed him.
Mei Zheng explained she delayed reporting because she feared her intervention with the flashlight would implicate her in the case, coming forward only after learning about Jiang Ting's story through the media and feeling sympathy for her. The effectiveness of her flashlight across the 60-meter distance between the buildings was questioned until it was suggested she used a powerful diving flashlight, capable of illuminating nearly 100 meters underwater.
If her testimony about the blinding light was accurate, it would lend significant support to Duan's view of justifiable defense. Chief Prosecutor Gong reminded Duan of a case he handled 14 years prior concerning excessive defense—the case of Li Mufeng, who was convicted of intentional assault resulting in death and sentenced to four years. Gong suggested Duan might compare the cases.
Ding Yi later examined the Li Mufeng case file, discovering that Mei Zheng had also been a witness in that case. Further complicating matters, the Procuratorial Supervision Office received an anonymous report alleging that Duan Hongshan had maintained a close, long-standing relationship with Mei Zheng, who was a party involved in his case from 14 years ago.
The report claimed Duan was now conspiring with Mei Zheng and Jiang Ting to commit murder and intended to abuse his position to ensure Jiang Ting's acquittal under the pretense of justifiable defense. Amidst a heavy rain, Duan and Ding Yi went to the building opposite the crime scene to test the visibility and the flashlight's range.
While Ding Yi was ascending the building towards the floor Mei Zheng claimed to be on, an unexpected light beam flashed towards them from the opposite building before Ding Yi had reached the intended spot. The following day, Duan met with Chief Prosecutor Gong and the new Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Fang Lingyuan, who had arrived from the Provincial Procuratorate.
Fang Lingyuan revealed that "she" had been the one who shone the light from the 15th-floor hallway the previous night, confirming Mei Zheng's account about the diving flashlight's reach across the distance, even in the rain. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Fang Lingyuan immediately questioned whether classifying Jiang Ting's case as justifiable defense was hasty, given the provincial office's attention to the case.
She challenged Duan's assessment of the entire act as a whole, particularly regarding the stabs inflicted after Zhang Yuan was incapacitated, arguing it should be considered harm to life rather than a continuous defensive action. Duan maintained that Jiang Ting was in a state of crisis and unable to make rational judgments, viewing the subsequent stabs as part of the overall instinctive reaction to prevent further harm.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Fang Lingyuan then presented a significant hypothesis: she suspected a third party, knowledgeable in law, had intervened and potentially orchestrated the murder by exploiting the justifiable defense clause. She connected this suspicion to Jiang Ting and Mei Zheng's possible knowledge of the justifiable defense law, which they could have gained from being witnesses in the 2009 Li Mufeng case, a case that Duan Hongshan himself had prosecuted.
It was then revealed that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Fang Lingyuan's line of questioning and hypothesis were based on the allegations contained in the anonymous report received by the Procuratorial Supervision Office.
