Endangers Public Safety

[Case Review]

In the early morning of September 25, 2019, a pavilion in the garden of a neighborhood caught fire. From the public surveillance video of the neighborhood, it can be seen that a person lit the wooden chair in the pavilion at four or five in the morning, and then the fire began to spread, and soon the entire pavilion was on fire.

Fortunately, other residents in the neighborhood found this in time and immediately called the police to extinguish the fire, and no serious consequences were caused. Subsequently, the police conducted an investigation and quickly captured the suspect Liu.

    Liu is 63 years old and retired. She often picks up wastes for sale to earn some pin money.

    Many elderly people in the neighborhood often chat in the pavilion in the garden of the neighborhood, and many of them bring their old or waste chairs to the pavilion to sit and chat. Once, Liu passed the pavilion in the garden and wanted to sit on a chair and chat with others, but she was rejected by the chair¡¯s owner.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t let me sit on the chair because I¡¯m a waste picker and they despise me.¡± After returning home, Liu was bitter and resentful.

In the early morning of the incident, Liu thought of this again after getting up, and felt more angry. She picked up a lighter from home and hurried out. ¡°If you don¡¯t let me sit on the chair, you can¡¯t sit on it,¡± she then set fire to the chair.

After appraisal, the value of property damage is equivalent to RMB 78,300.

    On April 9, 2020, the public prosecution institute filed an indictment against Liu on the basis of suspected crime of arson. On April 27 of the same year, the Baoshan District People¡¯s Court of Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as the ¡°Shanghai Baoshan Court¡±) held a court hearing in accordance with law.

    During the trial, the defendant Liu expressed her regret and compensated all the damages.

    Liu said: ¡°I just wanted to burn the chair, never thought of burning the pavilion. If I had known that the entire pavilion would be burned, I wouldn¡¯t have done such a stupid thing.¡±

Liu¡¯s defense lawyer said that Liu picked up wastes in the neighborhood to earn some pin money, which triggered natural or unnatural rejection by other residents, so she wanted to burn the chair of who rejected her. The location of pavilion is in the garden square of the neighborhood, over 50 meters away from the residential buildings. Most people already got up in the morning, so the damage was relatively light. The defendant did not commit any crime before. She regretted very much, and confessed truthfully to her crime. She requests to be given a lighter penalty.

   The public prosecutor held that Liu had a direct subjective intention to damage the chair, and a laissez-faire intention to the loss of other property in the pavilion. Arson is mainly a hazard to public safety, the timing of ignition is not a determining factor, and many people were still in bed. The lighted wooden chair and surrounding greenery may cause the fire to spread. The fire did not spread because it was extinguished in time. Judging from the actual damage, no serious consequences have been caused. In view of her confession and other circumstances, a sentence of three years is recommended.

[Case Study]

    After trial, the Shanghai Baoshan Court held that the defendant Liu endangered public safety by setting fire, and her actions constituted a crime of arson and should be punished. The criminal facts accused by the public prosecution organ are clear and the evidence sufficient, and therefore, Liu is convicted on the charge. The defendant Liu truthfully confessed to her crime and has compensated the economic loss of the damaged unit, so she can be given a lighter punishment in accordance with the law.

    Accordingly, the Shanghai Baoshan Court pronounced the judgement in court in accordance with law, and Liu is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 3 years for her crime of arson.

[Relevant Laws]

 Criminal Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China

Article 114 Whoever commits arson, breaches dikes, causes explosions, spreads pathogen of infectious diseases, poisonous or radioactive substances or other substances, or uses other dangerous means to endanger public security, but causes no serious consequences, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no less than three years but no more than ten years.

Article 67

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A criminal suspect who truthfully confesses to his crime may be given a lighter penalty although there is no voluntary surrender as mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs; and may be given a mitigated penalty if any especially serious consequence is avoided for his truthful confession.

(Author: Hu Mingdong of Shanghai Baoshan Court)