The "Maserati hit a BMW and killed two people" case in Yongcheng, Henan Province was heard in the Yongcheng People's Court on January 16. In court, the prosecutor recommended that the three defendants be sentenced for endangering public safety by dangerous means. The defendant Tan Moumou knelt down and apologized in court. The victim's family expressed their disapproval and expressed the hope that the court would sentence the perpetrator to death and execute it immediately.
Why did the defendants Liu, Tan and Zhang
constitute the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means?
The public prosecutor’s office believed that the defendant Tan Moumou ignored dissuasion after driving drunk and causing a traffic accident, and continued to drive and crash, causing heavy casualties and economic losses. The defendants Liu and Zhang, who were in the same car, knew that Tan was driving drunk and had an accident, but still abetted him to escape. The actions of the three defendants all constituted the crime of endangering public safety in dangerous ways. In the joint crime, Tan Moumou was the principal culprit, and Liu Moumou and Zhang Moumou were the accomplices. The prosecutor recommended that the three defendants be sentenced for endangering public safety.
Maserati hits BMW, killing 2
Relevant lawyers said that drunk driving itself constitutes the crime of dangerous driving, but this crime is punishable by up to six months in prison. After the female driver smashed into multiple cars and escaped, she drove at high speed and finally hit the BMW, causing the BMW to catch fire and the people in the car to die. This is a crime of endangering public safety. Therefore, she is guilty of traffic accident on top of the crime of endangering public safety. In this case, if she chooses a felony to deal with it.
The crime of dangerous driving is a new crime added in the "Criminal Law Amendment (8)", and the dangerous driving behavior itself is also a specific other dangerous method. According to Paragraph 2 of Article 133-1 of the Criminal Law: “Anyone who commits the conduct in the preceding paragraph and simultaneously constitutes other crimes shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of heavier penalties.” This provision shows that in the process of dangerous driving crime, there may be A situation where the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means is determined or converted into a conviction and sentencing. In the case of dangerous driving crimes, where the perpetrator, under the control of his will and intention, causes casualties to an unspecified number of people or causes two or more consecutive serious consequences of infringement of the personal rights or major property rights of an unspecified number of people, the perpetrator shall be deemed to have done so directly and intentionally. Or indirectly and intentionally commit the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means.
Refer to Changan Infiniti Drunk Driving Case, Maserati Female Driver’s Minimum or No Life
The “Maserati Female Driver Drunk Driving Case” is quite similar to the “Changan Infiniti Drunk Driving Case” that shocked the country. On May 9, 2010, the perpetrator, Chen Jia, drove an Infiniti car while drunk and rear-ended a Fiat car that was waiting at a red light. The accident resulted in the tragic death of two people and one injury in the Fiat car. Afterwards, the city's No. 2 Intermediate People's Court found the driver, Chen Jia, guilty of endangering public safety by dangerous means and sentenced him to life imprisonment and deprived of political rights for life.
Changan Infiniti Drunk Driving Case
Simply looking at the two accidents, the two drivers involved were both in a drunken state. At the same time, the female Maserati driver in this case still forcibly fled the scene after the scratch accident, leading to the final major accident. Whether in terms of result or process, the degree of harm is no less than that of the "Chang'an Infiniti Drunk Driving Case". Therefore, overall, the Maserati female driver may be sentenced to no less than the life sentence of the Chen family, the perpetrator of the "Chang'an Infiniti Drunk Driving Case". Sentence. According to the "Criminal Law", those who commit the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous methods, and the circumstances are serious or cause serious consequences, may be sentenced to death.
Why was the Hangzhou Mercedes-Benz female driver only sentenced to 6 years for causing five deaths?
Previously, a verdict was announced on a major traffic accident in Hangzhou. According to the verdict, the owner of a Mercedes-Benz in Hangzhou killed 5 people and was ultimately charged with traffic accident and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Although the consequences and the number of casualties were greater, the reason was that the defendant was driving in a panic and mistakenly used the accelerator for the brake, causing the vehicle to lose control. The driver was negligent in causing the accident, which is a crime of negligence.
The case of the female driver of Mercedes-Benz in Hangzhou
According to the provisions of the "Criminal Law", those who cause traffic accidents with other particularly serious circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years. However, the court ruling stated that the female driver had surrendered and did not escape. On this basis, the law could only sentence her to 7 years at most. In addition, after the incident, relatives actively compensated and obtained the understanding of most of the injured parties. These performances can be used as bargaining chips to reduce punishment.
To endanger public safety, the perpetrator needs to realize that his behavior will bring potential danger to specific public safety. If he still allows or hopes that such danger will occur, the perpetrator will commit the crime of endangering public safety. In the case of "Drunk Driving by a Maserati Female Driver", the driver Tan was already drunk and was scratched before hitting the BMW, but he still drove at high speed and continued to collide. This situation can already be concluded that Tan had the intention to endanger public safety.
If the perpetrator is not driving drunk and cannot prove that he has the intention to endanger public safety, even if he kills 5 people, it will not constitute a crime of endangering public safety. Just like Chen from Hangzhou Benz killed 5 people and constituted a crime of traffic accident. , and does not constitute a crime of endangering public safety.
