‘Mentally ill’ Deng cleared of all charges

• Source: Global Times
• [00:32 June 17 2009]
• Comments

By Li Xiaoshu

Deng Yujiao, left , and her mother, Zhang Shumei, leave the People’s Court of Badong, Hubei Province, yesterday. Photo: Wen Lin

Deng Yujiao, the waitress who stabbed to death an official last month was cleared of all charges yesterday at the people’s court in Badong county, Hubei province, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The court ruling was based on the result of a forensic assessment by the Hubei People’s Hospital and Wuhan Mental Disease Hospital, which claimed the 21-year-old waitress was suffering from bipolar disorder and was incapable of taking responsibility for her actions.

Deng was happy with the decision as “she thought she should be more harshly penalized for the murder,” the report said.

According to her grandfather, Deng had been suffering from insomnia for the past two years and since the second half of last year, had shown signs of mental ill health.

Zhang Shumei, Deng’s mother, said she was “satisfied” with the verdict.

The Global Times’ calls to Deng and Zhang went unanswered yesterday.

Despite the family’s positive reaction to the verdict, many Internet users expressed their outrage at the court’s ruling.

“People have been watching this case closely because it involved several officials, but the result was not satisfying,” Web user Chang Shaobo said at Tianya.com.

“Judicial independence should be respected in China. However, the government of Badong county interfered in the incident too much,” a source from inside the local judicial system told the Global Times.

Xia Lin, Deng’s former lawyer, who was sacked by her mother, told the Global Times that there had been “many serious problems” in the way the case had been handled.

“I only learnt I had been fired from a news release on the official website of Badong county,” he said.

“I have never experienced anything like that in my 20 years in the legal profession.”

“While the result should be appreciated in terms of leniency, Deng can’t be considered free just yet. She might yet be sent to a mental hospital,” he said.

Jing Yunchuan, a lawyer with the Beijing-based Gaotong Law Firm, told the Global Times that police in Badong had not collected enough evidence to support Deng.

“They didn’t make enough effort to protect evidence until lawyers for Deng insisted on doing so in late May, which was too late,” he said.

“The loss of evidence made it difficult for lawyers to defend Deng and accuse the officials of the crime of rape.”

Wang Shaopeng and Liu Gang, Deng’s current lawyers, said they would respect Deng’s decision on whether to appeal the verdict, Caijing magazine said on its website.

The two denied speculation they were assigned by authorities in Hubei Province, although both had worked for the provincial government, it said.